Shock of Love
by HogwartsHoe
Summary: Takes place in 5th year. Ron and Hermione explore their relationship while Harry is torn between the girl he's "supposed to be with" and the girl who strangely makes him smile.
1. He'd do anything for her

****

Shock of Love

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is a God… I am not

Note: This mini story takes place in the middle of their 5th year… much chaos toward Lord Voldemort has been going on and there's much protection surrounding Hogwarts and especially Harry and his friends. 

Chapter 1

'Come on Hermione' Harry thought to himself as he looked out the Gryffendor common room window. It was Christmas break and most of the students had gone home to their families, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione thought it best not to travel out in the open and rather stay safe in Hogwarts Castle. Although now they were wishing that they had left. Dumbledore had gone against his will to London for an urgent issue concerning the Ministry and the Deatheaters. And as soon as he left, Harry's scar began to burn. He felt as though there was an evil presence in the castle and he needed to find it. 

As bad as his luck could come, his Marauder's map had been ripped into three pieces when he packed all his belongings in his trunk for school. But he needed to find this source of evil and make sure it wasn't Lord Voldemort and he needed to do it now. The normal magic of repairing would not work on the map as it had magic laced throughout it but Hermione managed to find a potion in a book that would mend it together so it would work again. 

The potion was complicated and there was a plant that needed to be mixed into it that was very rare. After raiding Snape's cabinet, the three found that it could only be retrieved from the dark forest. Hermione volunteered to travel in there to get it seeing as she was the only one who knew what it looked like, where to find it, and it would look bad if all three of them were missing in action. So she put on Harry's invisibility cloak and ventured through the snow and into the forest. 

She'd been in there for over and hour and Harry and Ron were extremely worried. 

"We should go looking for her Harry. What if she's hurt, what if she's lost? This was a bad idea" Ron complained in a worried tone.   
"I know" Harry said expressionless. He felt helpless though and awful guilty. Just then he thought he saw movement in the snow. Seconds later he saw a little hand laying on the white ground, not moving. 

The two of them rushed through the halls of the castle and out the door, not caring who saw them or what rules they were breaking. They ran to where the single hand lay clutching a purple furry plant. Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off Hermione and turned her over to see that she was shaking and blue and barely breathing. 

"We have to take her to Madame Pomfrey" Ron said worriedly as he lifted Hermione off the cold snowy ground. 

"No, we cant" Harry said, and wished he didn't have to, "We'd all get in trouble, most of all Hermione. We can help her, I know how"

They placed the cloak around them and quickly made their way back to the Gryffendor common room. Ron lay Hermione on the couch next to the fire and looked at Harry with much concern. 

"What do we do?" He asked. 

"You need to transfer your body heat to hers, take both of your clothes off and hold her against you, it's the only way, I don't know any magic to help her now" Harry explained to him. 

Ron's eyes grew huge. "She's gonna wake up and think I'm assaulting her! There must be another way"

"There's not! Besides, would you rather I do it?"

Ron made a face that said "most certainly not"

"I didn't think so, now do it before she dies of hypothermia"

Harry sat down and tried to mix the plant into the potion. Ron quickly began to undress Hermione till she was in her bra and underwear. He tried his hardest to not think sexually in a time like this but with every article of clothing he removed, he felt himself getting hotter. This was the girl that he loved. Yes, the girl that he loved, so he couldn't let her die like this. He shook the sexual thoughts out of his head and removed his own clothing and lay down next to her beside the fire. He held her close to him and felt his body heat transferring into hers. Soon, her shaking became minimal and the color began to come back into her skin and her eyes opened. 

"R-R-Ron..?" Hermione said between small teeth chatters.

"Hermione I'm SO sorry… you were… and Harry said… and I just didn't want you to die" Ron said worried she would hate him forever. 

Harry rushed over to them and took Hermione's hand to help her up from the floor and wrapped a blanket around her. Ron stood, vacant expression, suddenly unashamed to be in his boxers. Harry sat Hermione down on the couch and explained everything to her. 

"I'm so sorry I put you boys through all this, but thank you for saving my life" She said, looking at the floor. She was noticeably embarrassed about the whole thing, and wondered why Ron was still sitting there in his boxers, rubbing her back. He'd never shown such concern for her and she'd never thought he would do something like that for her. 

"Did you put the plant in the potion?" she asked Harry. 

"Yes but I don't know what to do next"

"Alright well then lets finish this.. Just give me a minute" 

Hermione then grabbed her wet clothes and ran up the stairs to her room, presumably to change. Ron's eyes followed her till she was out of sight. 

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel about her" Harry said to Ron who was pulling his clothes back on. 

"I don't know what you're talking about" Ron replied looking at the floor; ears pink. 

"You know, she realizes that not just anyone would do that for her Ron"

"You would" he said, looking straight at Harry. 

Harry shrugged, "yes I suppose I would have"

"Do you like Hermione? As more than a friend Harry?"

"No, Ron, I don't at all" he replied, smiling. He could see that even though Ron looked away he was smiling also. 

While they waited for Hermione, Harry thought back on his five years at Hogwarts and recalled all the times he shared with his friends, how pleasant they were, and how painfully obvious Ron's love for Hermione was becoming as time went on. He remembered back to their first year, how much they quarreled, but now it all seems like petty little childlike flirtations. He remembered in their second year how worried and upset Ron was when Hermione was petrified. Even though he tried not to show it. He remembered in their third year, how they fought most of the year over crookshanks and scabbers, and remembered that as mad as they were he could see the look of longing to be friends again when the other wasn't looking. Most recently in their fourth year, he recalled all the jealousy that went on over the Yule ball. And how much Ron hated Viktor Krum, and even the dirty looks Hermione gave to Fluer when no one was looking. Yes, as much as his two best friends would try and deny it, there was no getting around it. They were in love with each other, and Harry was determined to find a way to bring it out and get it over with. 

"Harry snap out of it"

He hadn't realized it but Harry was just staring into the fire as he thought of all this, not blinking, not moving. 

"You'd better not be thinking about my sister" Ron joked. 

Before Harry could defend himself, Hermione was trotting down the stairs, fully clothed, with a smile on her face. She plopped down in between her two friends and they began to work out the potion. 

Soon, it was finished and they poured it onto the Marauder's map. A bright light came from the map and it began to magically mend itself back together. The map of the school showed up and their darkest fears came true. Deep within the dungeons of Hogwart's Castle lay a single dot labeled "Lord Voldemort". 


	2. Hallway confessions

****

Chapter 2

Almost as soon as the dot appeared, it disappeared. 

"You did see that right?" Harry quietly spoke to the others. 

They both nodded, ghostly looks on their faces. 

"What do you suppose this means?" Ron asked. 

Both Hermione and Harry shook their heads in disbelief, "I dunno"

***

Harry continued to check the map periodically throughout the rest of the week but the dot never showed again. It couldn't have been possible that it was a figment of all three of their imaginations… could it? No. Not possible. 

Soon the rest of the student body came back to school and things presumably went back to normal… well as far as normal went in their case.

Ron and Hermione were avoiding each other for the most part. After the incident, they both seemed to be a wee bit embarrassed to be around the other. Understandable.

One day, Hermione was in the library just before class gathering her notes together when she heard Parvati, Lavender, and Seamus giggling about something at a table behind a bookshelf. She peered through the opening and listened in on what they were saying.   
"Can you believe that? Who would have thought?" Seamus laughed.   
"Are you kidding me? I knew it wouldn't be long. In fact I bet they've been together all along and have just been hiding it!" Lavender squealed. 

"I dunno, they fight so much, I didn't even think they were friends anymore after the whole Viktor Krum/Fluer thing last year" Parvatti added. 

Hermione moved a few books to the left so she could have a better passage way to look and listen through. 

"Wow, I cant believe it," Seamus said shaking his head, "Ron snogging with Hermione, I'm gonna have to congratulate the boy!"

At this, Hermione jumped with surprise and the books on the shelf fell to the other side. She quickly ducked then gathered her belongings and ran from the library. She couldn't believe it! Ron was telling people that he snogged with her after she thought it was caring for her well being on his part. Oh, this was the end of their friendship, relationship, thing, whatever it was it was over. She went into the Gryffendor common room to get her remaining books and marched past Ron, not saying anything cause she knew she'd regret it later (for once). 

"Hey love," Ron with a smile.   
"I'm not your love Ron Weasley" She said sternly as she walked up the stairs. 

He got up quickly and followed her. 

"Mione what's wrong"

"You should know, you've obviously been telling everyone". With that she stamped past him and walked out of the common room. 

Dean Thomas was coming in and lifted his hand for Ron to slap him a high five. "Hey congratulations Ron, I heard about you and Hermione, I knew it would only be a matter of time."

"What exactly did you hear?" Ron asked, not slapping his hand. 

"That you snogged with her of course. Its true isn't it?"

"Oh dear" Ron's heart sank to his feet and he ran out of the common room after Hermione. 

"HERMIONE!" He screamed after her as he ran to meet her. 

"Ron, leave me alone, I wish to have nothing to do with you, I cannot BELIEVE that you would tell people that I snogged with you"

"Hermione, I swear, I didn't. Please, you have to believe me" There was almost a tear in his eye as be backed Hermione up against the wall of the corridor they were standing in. Ron was a good half foot taller than Hermione and she didn't try and fight with him. 

"Then why does everyone think that Ron" She said, almost beginning to cry.   
"I dunno, but I promise you I'll get to the bottom of this. Believe me, the last thing I want is for you to be upset with me or hurt over something I did - Hermione I - "

"Well that's certainly a new thing, not wanting to hurt me"

Ron's face grew angry. "Is that so, I'm not allowed to care for you? Just because we've spent a good amount of our time in the past years fighting and quarreling with one another doesn't mean that the whole time I haven't had an underlying feeling of affection toward you". 

"Do you mean it Ron?"

"Of course I do, Mione, I care so much about you"

A smile came to Hermione's face and to Ron's also. He squeezed her hand and began to walk away.   
"Ron" she said faintly, still holding his hand and keeping him from walking fully away, "Do you have feelings for me?" 

He came back to her and looked her straight in the eye, then down at the floor, then back at her, "Yes, Hermione, I do have feelings for you"

She smiled sheepishly, and then began, herself, to walk away. This time it was Ron who held her hand to keep her from going. 

"Do you have feelings for me?" He asked, sounding boyishly hopeful. 

With a big smile, she said "Yes, I do" and turned to walk away. 

Ron sighed with an utmost feeling of relief, like all the burdens that had been upon his shoulder his entire life had been lifted from him and placed onto a cloud floating far away from the cloud in which he and his love, Hermione were resting on.

Ron laughed to himself at his own thoughts. How feminine and sensitive they were. What if Harry knew? He leaned up against the wall and slid down the floor. He could have stayed there all day, just thinking about Hermione. Except at that very moment, the very floor beneath him gave out and he felt himself falling through a sharp cold shaft. He landed with much pain onto a damp chilled floor. 

He knew his wrist was broken but what concerned him was his location and how he was going to get out of it. How'd he end up in this mess? Wasn't that Harry's job?? He took out his wand and lit the end of it so he could see where he was. He appeared to be in a dark wet hallway. 

'There better not be any rats or spiders in here' he thought to himself. He walked for a bit, lighting the candles as he went along. At the end of the hallway he could see that there was a Y and he would have to choose which path he would take. The choice was inevitably made for him. All of a sudden, a dark figure appeared in the doorway of one of the halls and seemed to be floating toward him. Fear embodied Ron and he couldn't think, he turned around to run and grabbed the nearest object, which was a candle on the wall. Before he knew what was going on, the wall had twisted into a circle and he was standing in the school hallways of Hogwarts again. Was that a dream? No, he thought not, his arm was in much pain and he had a rather large cut on his shoulder. 

He ran into the nearest classroom where Professor McGonagall was teaching and nearly collapsed. 

"Mr. Weasley!" She gasped and quickly escorted him to Madame Pomfrey where he explained everything to her and Professor Dumbledore. Soon Harry and Hermione were at the door eager to know what was going on.   
Once the professors had shown their concern and gotten all the details, they left the three of them to be alone. 

Ron explained everything to Harry and Hermione and questioned if he should have told the Professors about the figure he saw. 

"I dunno" Harry said, "I suppose its better this way, if its Voldemort, then at least Dumbledore will be ahead of the game."

Harry noticed that Hermione was holding Ron's hand. "I see you've made up" he said with a smile. Ron and Hermione both blushed and looked away. 

"I'll leave you two alone" he said, smirking and walking out of the room. 

Ron moved over on his bed and motioned for Hermione to sit down. She did so. They sat there for a few moments, shyly looking at each other, and around the room. 

"This is awkward huh?" Hermione said, laughing to cover up the nervousness. 

Ron smiled, at least he wasn't the only one feeling awkward. "Yea… it is…. But I really do mean it Mione, I do have feelings for you… I have for a while, I don't even know how long, but something tells me its from the moment I met you"

Hermione didn't know what to say, she just wrapped her arms around him. Ron, pleased with this, embraced her back with his good arm and closed his eyes feeling refreshed with the feeling of her pressed against him again. He'd only dreamed it would return to him. 

He wished this could last forever, but unfortunately the hospital wing isn't a place to be alone.   
"Feeling better Mr. Weasley?" Madame Pomfrey asked as she so sternly made her appearance noticeable in the room.   
"Yes thank you" Ron said, pink in the face. 

"You can go," she said, smiling, "But take the potion with you and drink it again before you go to bed"

"Ok" Ron jumped up, glad to be leaving. Glad glad glad was all that was on his mind, after that wonderful hug. He knew Hermione was now his and what a great feeling it was. 


	3. Feeling lonely and not so lonely

****

Chapter 3

Harry traveled back to the Gryffendor common room. He figured that Ron and Hermione were going to get together. He knew this day would come. He was happy for them, he really was. But a large part of him felt empty. Empty of love. He had so many people to love and so many people who loved him, but no one to lust over or spill his heart out to. His parents were dead, leaving a large hole in him that couldn't be replaced. His best friends in the world now had each other to care about and probably wouldn't be as loving to him he figured. He knew that they'd always be his best friends but he wasn't going to kid himself that their being together wasn't going to change things.

He knew that people like Dumbledore and Hagrid had unconditional love for him as though he were their son. And never to say that wasn't good enough for him, he just wanted someone to be close to. Maybe it was the fact that he could die at any time and he wanted to get things behind him. Maybe it was the fact that he was fifteen years old and feeling the hormones building up in him. Whatever it was, he suddenly had an extreme urge to be with someone; a female someone. 

No sooner had this thought crossed his mind did Cho Chung walk out of the Ravenclaw common room and head his direction. Cho had been the object of his attraction last year but he backed off after she had gone to Yule Ball with Cedric Diggory, who later died. Harry shook that out of his head… not what he wanted to be thinking about. 

"Hi Harry" 

God she was pretty. Harry looked at her, she was indeed pretty, but there was something about her that wasn't as appealing as last year, yet she didn't look any different. Maybe it was just him. 

As she passed, she lightly placed her hand around his upper arm and let it slide all the way down. He turned around to face her.   
"How've you been Harry"

"Good." Harry said, breathing a little heavily for his liking, "Yourself?"

"I've been doing great"  
"You look great" Harry winced… he didn't mean to say that. "Well, it was nice talking to you, hope to see you soon" With that he walked quickly away. He didn't know why, but something about her (certainly not her looks) just wasn't making him feel comfortable. He hoped he wouldn't be smacking himself later. 

He entered the Gryffendor common room to find random students studying and chatting. 

"Harry" Seamus perked up from behind a chess board, "How's Ron, he alright?"

"Yes he's fine" Harry told him. 

"Can I go see him then?" An angelic voice came from behind him. He knew without looking who it was and tried to hide his smile before turning. 

"Yes, Ginny, mind if I come with?" 

"Weren't you just there?" 

"Er.. Yes… well I need a walk"

Ginny smiled at him and they made their way out of the common room and down the hall. 

"You been alright Harry?" Ginny looked at him with concern. "You've seemed kind of distant lately."  
"You've noticed" Harry looked up at the ceiling, "you're the first"

"If you need someone to talk to…"

"Thanks Ginny"

Harry looked at her, not like he used to, but like he'd been looking at her for the last few months now. Not as Ron's little sister, not as the girl he'd saved from the chamber of secrets, not even as Ginny Weasley anymore. But as something, someone, of different significance. He couldn't put his finger on just quite what but he knew that she had felt affections toward him in her early years. He often wondered if they were still there, and if he had been foolish to overlook them. No, certainly not, they're just young kids. Harry pushed all these thoughts from his mind and just thought about how annoying they were. The thoughts of a teenager. He didn't need them clouting his brain with all the real life drama he had going on. He sighed… and supposed it was all real life, he was just dealt a large hand and he'd have to learn how to juggle it all. He had been doing pretty well so far. 

"He's not in here" 

Harry looked up to see that he and Ginny had reached the hospital wing and Ron was no where to be found. 

"Must have been released" He told her. 

"Wouldn't we have seen him on the way?"

Harry shrugged, "Maybe they went a different way" he couldn't help but look at the floor. 

"They?" Ginny looked at Harry for a moment then understood. "I see… well it's about time"

They both smiled and laughed a little before starting to walk back. 

"Harry can I ask you something?"

"Sure Gin"

"Are you happy for Ron and Hermione?"

Harry stared hard at her. Could she read his mind? "Of course I am, they're my best friends, why wouldn't I be?"

"I dunno, I could picture myself in your position feeling a little abandoned.. Perhaps lonely and confused…" She looked at him with a sideways frown. "I'm sorry Harry I don't mean to pry. I just want you to know that its ok if you're feeling those things and if you want to talk about it I'll be here to understand. You don't have to feel bad for not being perfect or feeling what you think you're supposed to feel."

Harry looked at her for a moment. "I wish that were true Gin, I dunno I'm just so confused about things, I need a break, but I know I don't have one coming!" He said with a big grin.   
"Harry, I honestly don't know how you keep your spirits so high, you really are perfect you know," She said smiling, and shaking her head. Turning a little red in the cheeks. 

Harry took a deep breath and decided it was time for his well known courage to step up. 

"Ginny, is it true that you used to have a crush on me?"

Ginny stopped dead in her tracks, "That obvious ey?"

Harry laughed at the wit she used to cover the truth, it was attractive.   
"Any chance you'd still have one?" Wow… where was this braveness coming from! This was still Ron's little sister. Harry stopped his thoughts to picture Ron kicking his ass. Not a pretty image. Pretty, Ginny was pretty. ARG. 

"Harry, what are you getting at?" Ginny asked him nervously. 

"Never mind, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you that." With that he began to walk a little quicker down the hallway, he was embarrassed and didn't want Ginny to think he was a complete git. Perhaps in the morning he could plead temporary insanity. 

"There's a chance" She said, making him stop practically running away from her. 

He slowly turned around trying to hold back his smile.   
"Yea? You mean it?" The glimmer in his eye couldn't fool anyone, he might as well have whipped out the big ass grin anyway. 

She stepped up to him and put her hand on his face. "Old crushes die hard Harry"

He smiled and put his hand on top of hers, what a nice feeling it was. He didn't want to ruin it, but Harry that wanted to kiss her and the Harry that wanted to respect his best friend's little sister were unfortunately sharing the same brain. 

"We should probably get back" Damn the Harry who won. 

Ginny looked a little disappointed but reluctantly agreed. 

They walked into the Gryffendor common room which was now empty. Harry had secretly wished there would be people in it so he wouldn't be so tempted to give Ginny a proper good night. They walked up the stairs and where Ginny's dorm entrance was, Harry took her hand in his and gently kissed her on the cheek. 

"Goodnight Ginny, sweet dreams"

Ginny smiled largely, she couldn't hold back her excitement as much as she tried, "Goodnight Harry" she said, squeezing his hand in hers, then turning to go into her room. 

Harry made his way up to his room, he could feel himself floating. He hadn't decided whether that was a good or a bad thing yet. He walked into the room where Ron was just tucking himself into bed. 

"Where've you been?" Ron asked him with a smirk.   
"I could ask the same of you. Went back to see you and you weren't there"

"Oh yea I was released so me and Hermione just took a stroll around the halls a bit, just had a few things to talk out."

"Right" Harry said with a sly smile. Ron threw a mitten at him. "Goodnight Harry"

"Goodnight Ron"

Harry laid in bed for a while and thought about everything. Everything and anything he could possibly think about to get his mind of what he shouldn't be thinking about. Ginny Weasley. Was it wrong of him? Were they an item now? He wanted to be with her so bad, but at the same time he didn't want to cross and boundaries or break any unspoken but implied rules. 

He began to think about kissing her and soon drifted off into a wonderful slumber. Better than he had had in weeks, months, hell years for that matter. Maybe she was just what he needed. But how would it all work out?


	4. It has hit the fan

Chapter 4

Harry awoke with the same thoughts he fell asleep to. Ginny Weasley. This plagued him. He felt like he wasn't supposed to be thinking about her and at the same time he felt like she was the only thing he'd been supposed to be thinking about for a long time now. 

He looked over at his sleeping best friend. A smile on his face. Harry ached to know the details of he and Hermione. He couldn't picture them together… yet he always knew they'd end up that way. He had a lot to think about, and not much time to relish in his thoughts. Its was yet another day of classes as Hogwarts. 

***

As Harry and Ron made their way down the stairs they Harry saw Hermione's eyes light up at the sight of Ron. She of course shied away the moment she realized what she was doing. But Harry was jealous of those few seconds the two shared. 

"Guys Listen" he began to say to them, "I don't want anything to be weird between us"

"Harry.." they both began but he cut them off. 

"I'm serious, no weirdness, you've been my best friends for nearly 5 years and that's not gonna change. I want you to feel free to snog in front of me and to each be able to talk to me about the other one. And that's an order!" He finished his lecture, smiling at his friends. "Its gonna take time guys… but I don't want things to change between us".

"Me and Ron are NOT snogging! What Ron? I tell you I might like you and this is what you do? You tell Harry that we're snogging? I knew I shouldn't have believed you! You're a liar and a pervert and I DON'T have feelings for you!" Hermione cried and ran back up to her dorm.

Ron stood there in shock. "What the hell just happened?"

"I am SO sorry, I was NOT expecting that… that was awful" Harry said, wide eyed.

"Yea… don't worry about it, whatever, lets go to breakfast, I don't care anymore, if she wants to be a little bi.."

"Ron don't. You know you don't mean it, just let it go" Ginny said from the stairwell. 

"Yea.." Ron began and looked like he was going to say something else, then shook it off. "I'm gonna skip breakfast… maybe I'll write a letter to Percy or something, I'll catch up with you in class Harry"

"Tell him I say hello!" Ginny exclaimed as he ran up the stairs. 

He lit up as Ginny walked toward him, and he held out an elbow to her. She gladly accepted. 

The two of them walked around the castle talking, forgetting all about breakfast. It gave them a chance to be alone. When it came time for them to go to class they were both surprised how time flew when they were together, and how just that little time spent with one another lit their world up like never before. 

Harry walked Ginny to her first class and stopped her shortly before they got there. 

"Ginny, I have to tell you…" Harry began to say as he took Ginny by the hand, "I've never felt like this… you make me so happy"

Ginny grinned, "Happy like 'thanks for being a great friend' or happy like 'I'm gonna kiss you' ?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Harry thought of what a perfect opportunity that opened for him and leaned in for the kill. 

The moment his lips touched Ginny's, every thought in his mind went blank and a feeling rushed over him. A feeling that said this is exactly what he had been missing in his life. Of course, kissing Ginny could not fill the void of his parents, or growing up with the Dursleys or now 4 death escapes. But she was something that could take him away from all that pain. But somehow this felt right.

"Harry, is that you?!" Harry heard a voice from down the hall, a look of horror took over his face as he saw Ron coming down the hallway. 

Harry pushed Ginny into the hall and she ran into her classroom, potions, only one door away. 

"Was it just me or were you snogging just then? Who was that? Cho?" Ron asked as he walked down the hall and peered into the potions classroom. 

"A fourth year? Harry…" 

Harry was speechless, he stood there unable to say or do anything. So worried what Ron would say or do if he knew about him and Ginny. 

Ron gave him a disturbed look. "Fine you wont tell me, I'll find out from Ginny, she's in that class… whoever you're snogging with must have gone in late"

"LATE!" Harry screamed, "WE'RE VERY LATE!" 

Luckily it was for Care of Magical Creatures, and Hagrid knew they probably had good reason to be late and did not give them detention, but consequently took 5 points off, as to be fair. Hermione gave them a disapproving glare. Ron gave her a dirty look in return. 

***

As they sat down to lunch, Harry could see that Ron was just itching to ask Ginny who was late to potions so he could know who Harry was kissing in the hallway. The nerves began to build up in Harry's stomach so much that he found himself unable to eat. 

As Ginny came to the table, Harry found himself trying to telepathically communicate with her… but of course could not… if only Ginny were a snake.. He thought. 

"Ugh, herbology is just dreadful, I hate plants" Ginny said with a snarl as she sat down. 

"Do you need help with it?" Hermione asked, loving an opportunity to show off her smartness. 

"Yes that would be great"

"I can help you study tonight"

"Oh I cant tonight, I have detention for being late to potions" The second the words came out of Ginny's mouth she wished she could swallow them up again. 

Harry involuntarily choked on his pumpkin juice and looked over as Ron's eyes grew large. 

"YOU!" he fumed and pointed to Ginny, "AND YOU!" he snapped his head to Harry. 

Harry stood up and began to back away, "Now Ron, please, just hear me out"

"MY LITTLE SISTER HARRY!"

Ginny got up and stood between them, giving a look of hate to her brother.   
"Ron, you are over reacting, and you're making a fool of yourself" She steamed at him. 

Ron looked around to see the entire room looking at him. Some in shock, wondering what would happen next, some laughing and rolling their eyes, knowing this day would come. 

Ron turned around and left, he didn't know what else to do. 

Harry followed him out, he couldn't wait for things to mend themselves out, he knew if given a chance, he could talk some sense into his best friend. 

As he chased him down the hall, he wondered what exactly it was that he was going to say to him. 

"Ron! Ron please don't be mad, I'm you BEST friend"

"NOT ANYMORE" Ron said harshly as he entered the common room.

Ginny, Hermione, and a crowd of Gryffendors gathered into the common room to see what was going on. A fight between Ron and Harry was rare and this had to be about something good. 

"Harry, HOW COULD YOU"

"Ron! Stop being an ass!" Ginny yelled at him "Harry and I just kissed, that's ALL, there's nothing else going on, God let me live a little" and with that she stomped out of the room. 

Harry's expression went blank. He felt as though his heart had just been pulled out of his chest and ripped into one thousand pieces. 

Ron obviously didn't catch what Ginny had just said or the meaning behind it cause as soon as she was gone he went right back to taking all his anger out on Harry. But Harry didn't hear a word he said. He couldn't hear anything at all. In his 15 years he had never let a selfish or unappreciative thought enter his mind but at this moment he thought his life wasn't fair. He thought that after all the things that had gone wrong in his life he had finally found someone that he could talk to and share his feelings with. Someone he could have feelings for that were more than friendship and someone that he would one day love and care for more than anyone else. But she'd taken that away from him as quickly as she'd so deviously given it to him. Was it just a tease or was there something behind what she had said? Harry wondered if he really wanted to know the answer to that. 

"Harry? … Ron stop yelling at him… Harry are you ok?" Hermione went over to where Harry was now sitting up against the wall, blocking out everything around him. He then realized how he was acting and stood right up. 

"I'm sorry Ron, I shouldn't have done that… I shouldn't have done that at all." With that, Harry collected his books and walked out of the common room. 


	5. A new light

Chapter 5

Harry, lost in thought all day was late to many classes, and distracted throughout them. He had points taken away from him and detention given to him by Snape who was not in the mood for Harry's romance troubles to be interfering with his precious class. 

By the end of the day, he had decided that it wasn't worth his troubles. Harry had much worse things to think about (like Voldemort.. And even the fight between his two best friends) than his one moment of bliss with Ginny that had now gone rotten. 

Harry entered the common room to see random Gryffendors mingling about. He saw Ron playing chess with George, Hermione reading a book in the corner, Parvati and Lavender doing homework at a table, and a few kids playing exploding snap on the floor. 

Harry decided to start a conversation with Lee Jordan on this years Quidditch season. Ron looked over at him and made a weird face. 

"I see you've gotten over me being mad at you" Ron scowled at him.

"Oh grow up Ron" Hermione yelled without giving Harry a chance to respond. 

"I might say the same for you!" Ron said, turning his anger at Hermione now. 

"What's that supposed to mean"

"You know perfectly well what I mean"

"No Ron, I really don't, why don't you explain it to me"

"Fine then Hermione, you wanna know what I think about all this? I think you're being a baby, you're scared of what other people will think of you or what people will say about us so you don't want to enter into a relationship with me. When we're alone you're fine and dandy and flirty with me but as soon as other people are around you pick a fight with me as though you'd rather have me dead than have me touch you or look at you"

"Ron that is absolutely just.. Just.. WRONG.. You're always wrong you don't know how I feel and I certainly do NOT.."

Ron interrupted her by grabbing her viciously and kissing her on the lips. She resisted out of pure shock and then he felt her melt under his grasp. Then she tensed up again and pulled away quite quickly. She opened her mouth twice to say something and she looked everywhere but at him. Everyone was staring. Ron was trying to hold back a grin. Her eyes drew thin and she slapped him in the face and ran up the stairs. The Gryffendor students started clapping. Ron held his cheek as he watched her run away. 

"Sorry, mate" Harry said to him, patting him on the back. 

Ron suddenly forgot all hatred he had toward Harry for kissing his sister and smiled as he placed his hand on his shoulder. 

"Its alright, I was expecting a left"

The two laughed together and sat down to talk a bit. 

"Alright, well… 8 o'clock… I better be heading to detention with _Snape." _Harry said, cringing at the mention of that horrible man. 

"Alright," Ron sighed, "I better go talk to Hermione anyway" He rolled his eyes, smirking.   
"Good luck mate" 

"Thanks, I'll need it!" 

With that Harry squeezed Ron's shoulder and started to make his way out of the common room. He looked over in the corner to see Ginny laughing at something with Colin Creevy, he had his hand on her knee. At first this sickened Harry but then he laughed to himself about how foolish he had acted about her. So much worse had happened to him in his life than Ginny Weasley using playing him. Although he wished he knew what went on. 

"Harry… Harry wait up" Harry turned around to see Parvati running his way. 

"I've got detention with Snape too" she said.

'Oh joy' Harry thought to himself. "Alright then, let's go". He remembered back to the Yule Ball last year and wasn't looking forward to spending time alone with Parvati again. What a horrible night that was. Although he was pretty sure she didn't enjoy his company either. 

They entered the potions dungeon where Snape sat at his desk, cold look on his face. 

"Right then, I want you to clean this entire dungeon" and with that, he left. 

"Not a man of many words when he's not giving out detention or taking points from Gryffendor I see", Parvati winced as Snape so creepily walked out of the door. 

"Well let's get started then" Harry said, grabbing a cloth. 

An hour went by, the two of them working diligently in silence. 

"Harry, do you hate me"

"No Parvati, of course I don't hate you" Harry was taken aback by this comment. Had he been rude? Was it because of Yule Ball?

"Then why don't you ever talk to me?" She asked… looking quite sad. 

"I just… I don't really know, we never really hang out"  
"I'd like to get to know you Harry… my mum and dad talk about you all the time, ask me how you are and what you're like. I don't really know what to tell them cause we don't chat much, sometimes I wish we did. They just loved that we went to Yule Ball together last year… they knew your parents you know"

Harry put his cloth down and looked over at Parvati. "I'm sorry if I've given you any wrong idea's, Parvati, I don't dislike you, we've just been in two different worlds I guess."

"Yes I suppose that's true, I tend to occupy myself with the normal teenage stuff and you can't exactly worry about that, you have a lot more on your hands"

"Believe me, I'd like to… and I'd like to get to know you if it means anything now" Harry gave her a lopsided grin. 

"Better late than never" she smiled at him. 

The two chatted while they cleaned the potions dungeon. They laughed about Yule Ball last year, they laughed about the predictions Harry makes up for divinations, they laughed about how Parvati is a teachers pet in divinations, and they even laughed about Ron and Hermione. 

"OWWWW" Harry suddenly wailed, grabbing his head and falling to the floor. Parvati rushed to his side while he lay eyes closed, teeth gritting. 

"Harry what happened, what's wrong"

"My scar burns so bad" he said, almost in tears due to the awful pain he was experiencing. 

All of a sudden, the room started to shake, objects in the room began to lift into the air and whirl around as though in a tornado wind. 

"Watch out!" Harry warned as Parvati screamed and ducked. Harry instinctively wrapped himself around her and brought her close to the ground where he hovered over her protectively. Things flew by them, some hitting them. They heard the single window in the room shatter and heard the glass fall to the ground. Finally it died down and Parvati began to unravel from her tucked position but Harry still had all of his weight on her.   
"Harry I think we're alright now"

No response.   
Parvati pushed him off of her and he rolled onto the ground, unconscious. Parvati screamed for help and Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall came rushing in to see what all the commotion was about. 

"What is going on in here?!" Snape demanded.

"I don't know what happened!" Parvati started ranting, "Harry's scar started to hurt and then all of a sudden all these objects started flying around as thought there was a tornado in here, I think something must of have hit him"

McGonagall and Snape looked down at the 15 year old boy to see no blood and were somewhat relieved, but quickly took him to the hospital wing anyway. 

***

As Ron ascended the stairs, he thought about what he would say to Hermione. She really was being unbearable. But what was new? This is how she always was, this is the girl he had fallen in love with long before he knew the meaning of the word. 

Her door was cracked open and he peered in to see Hermione sitting on the window sill, staring out into the blank night sky. 

As Hermione sat, she thought about what Ron had said to her. He was right. She didn't know what she was afraid of. Love? They were too young. She wanted to be with him forever, would starting at 15 ruin those chances? What would people say? There was just so many things telling her "no don't do this, it will ruin everything". 

She looked over to see the 6 ft red head standing in her doorway. She jolted a little. 

"Ron! Don't do that! You cant just creep up like that" She said, coming out of the window sill and taking a seat on her bed. He wearily walked over and sat down next to her. He could see Hermione's cheeks start to turn pink. He knew she felt the same way about him, so why did she act like this?

"You know, Hermione, after what happened with us in the hallway and in the hospital wing, I was so happy, I thought, wow, after all these years, all I've had to do is say it, who would have thought she would have felt the same way. This girl, that I've been secretly admiring for 5 years now, this girl who I cant ever stop thinking about and who I quarrel with every day just because I like to see her cute little face when she's angry.. This girl might actually like me back. And I layed in my bed, awake all night thinking 'wow this girl is finally mine' but then you ripped it away from me as soon as it was given. Why, Hermione? Why are you doing this?"

"Ron… I've always been yours… and you're right, I am scared. I just need time to think about all this"

"Fine," Ron said, getting up and walking toward the door. "Let me know when you're done thinking, I'll of course be waiting"

"Well you don't have to go…" she said, looking like she was wondering where that came from too. 

Ron stood paralyzed for a moment, thinking over the possibilities of what that implied. He began to walk toward her bed again, and sat on the other side. He leaned one hand behind him and looked over to Hermione, who was sitting in a similar position. 

"So…" he said, trying to hide the smirk and blush from his face. 

"So…" she said in reply, looking as though she was trying to hide the same thing. She chuckled for a second, then flipped her legs up on the bed and leaned back against her pillow. 

"What's so funny?" Ron asked. 

"Actually it's not funny… just … I always imagined that our first kiss would be sweet, long and romantic, not ravish, quick, and passionate." She said, still chuckling, quite embarrassed looking also.   
"So, Hermione Granger dreams about kissing me" He said, smiling like never before. 

"Oh I should have known you would have said something like that, I wish I never told you" She said, laughing still. 

"What are our second kisses like in those dreams?" Ron asked, looking kind of daring. 

"I'm not telling you anything!"

"Well you'll just have to tell me if this is right" He said, leaning in. Hermione looked scared and he wondered if he should go through with it. But then she closed her eyes and he knew he better live up. 

When their lips came together it was nothing like before. Before they had locked to prove a point. This time, it was a justification, of everything the two had ever felt for each other. Ron took his hand off the bed and placed it on Hermione's face as his mouth explored hers. He'd never experienced passion like this before and it made his heart stand on end, as he couldn't get enough. She pulled back a little and he worried that she didn't feel the same. Their lips came apart very slowly, so that all the moisture and passion was not lost, but savored for everything it was worth. 

Hermione blinked a few times, and Ron sat, awaiting her approval.   
"Wow", she finally spoke, "Ron, I… "

Her words were broken with Parvati running in the door.   
"Its Harry, he's been taken to the infirmary"


	6. Bedside loyalty

Chapter 6

Harry awoke to see Madame Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore staring down at him. 

"Welcome back Harry" Dumbledore smiled at him, "Perhaps you would like a moment to think about what happened before you get over questioned"

Harry rubbed his head and sat up in the bed. "Yes… I don't… oh my scar…" Harry layed back down onto the bed, closing his eyes for a moment. 

"Is it still bothering you" Dumbledore inquired. 

"No" Harry said, taking his hand away from his head now. "I just… feel foolish that's al… Parvati! Is she alright?!"

"Yes, yes, she is fine," Dumbledore told him with a chuckle, "You managed to be the gentlemen and protect her from harm even when you were in peril."

Harry smiled and felt himself blushing a tad bit. 

"Not to worry Harry, everyone is alright, though I must admit that the sequence of events are strange, and I am concerned with the burning of your scar… is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

"I have nothing to tell," Harry lied about the map, "But my concern is as great as yours… I feel like something suspicious is under our noses"

Dumbledore gave a half hearted grin, "Well, Harry, I'm sure that if anything comes up, you'll come to me"

Harry nodded and tried to smile at Dumbledore as he left the room. 

"Can I go?" Harry asked Madame Pomfrey. 

"Not yet, I gave you medicine to calm your pain and its likely to make you dizzy. I'd like you to stay here over night, but if I'm not mistaken your friends are waiting outside, I'll tell them they can come see you one at a time if you'd like."

"Yes, thank you."

Madame Pomfrey walked out of the infirmary and back in a gain with Ron behind her looking worried and anxious and happy to see Harry alive all at the same time. Another words, the usual vacant Weasley expression. 

"Harry what in the bloody hell happened?"

Harry laughed, "I wish I knew… something's up Ron, and it's not something good."

"Think it's Voldemort?"

"I'd like to hope not, but I'm afraid so… I know it has to have something to do with him. Nothing else makes my scar burn like that."

"Stupid prat"

"Did you work out things with Hermione?"

Ron blushed a little. "I think so… but who knows with her"

Harry chuckled. "She likes you, you know that"

"Yea, I know that, just sometimes I don't think she knows that!"

The two laughed together. 

Ron got up from his seat on Harry's bed. "I think Hermione wants to come in and talk to you, prolly gonna grill you with questions… sorry mate, haha"

Harry knew he was right, he really wasn't in the mood to get questioned by Hermione about the events of the evening. 

"HARRY WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED. Tell me every detail from start to finish? Did you see anything in your head? Did you hear any voices? What kind of burn did your scar produce? Did it feel exactly the same as last ti…" 

"Hermione, please, not now, I'm appreciative to see you but I'm not gonna lie, you're bringing my head pain back"

Harry then saw the look that she often gave to Ron but he'd rarely seen and he thought for a moment she was going to run out crying or say something dreadful to him. But she cracked a smile.   
"I'm sorry Harry, I'm just curious!"

"Well I'm curious too… sit, tell me about you and lover boy" 

"Oh Harry! Do shut up!" She said, wide eyed and turning red. 

"I knew this day would come… I've known all along"

Hermione tried not to smile. "We all did"

"So you're official"

Hermione's smile faded, "No" she said, looking away, "I don't know what to do"

"Hermione, don't you have feelings for him"  
"Yes"  
"Then what's the problem?"

"I'm afraid to waste them"

"Waste them?"

"Harry, we're 15 years old, what if dating now ruins things forever?"

"Hermione, we're 15 years old, don't worry about forever"

Hermione smiled at him.   
"Hermione, I really don't like saying this, but with all the attacks and Voldemort strong and on the rise and after me and people close with me, forever might not be that long…"

"Harry, don't say a thing like that!"

"I know, its awful, but I'm just saying that you shouldn't waste your feelings away. I'm sure you've heard that old muggle saying"  
"Which one would that be"

"Live every day as though it were your last"

Hermione cracked a small smile. "Thanks Harry"

Ron poked his head into the hospital wing.   
"Hermione are you gonna stay in there all day, there are other people waiting to see Harry"

"Ron, don't be a prat!" She rolled her eyes but Harry could see she was going to take his advice. "Thanks Harry, and feel better!"

With that, Hermione left the room. 

Harry wondered for a moment who else could be waiting to see him. Then Hagrid walked through the entrance way. 

Harry found himself somewhat disappointed and didn't know why. 

"Elo Arry" Hagrid said, sitting down on the bed across from him.   
The two chatted for a bit about not much in particular then Hagrid wished him well and left the wing.   
Harry rolled over and figured he'd might as well get an early start on his sleep and hoped that he wasn't interrupted by nightmares. 

"Harry, are you awake?" came a female voice from the corridor of the hospital wing. 

Harry rolled over to see Parvati walking slowly toward him. 

"Oh god, I'd thought you'd gone to sleep, I just wanted to check and make sure you were alright, you really gave me a fright tonight!"

"Sorry about that"

"No, don't be, I'm thankful toward you, you saved my life!"

Harry smiled and didn't know why, but took her hand in his. 

She sat down on the bed with him and they chatted for a little while. Mostly about regular things like school, silly romances going on, Quidditch, and small talk like that. Harry really enjoyed his new friendship with Parvati and he thought she might just be the thing to get his mind off Ginny and keep him away from Ron and Hermione to give them alone time. He never thought he'd be thinking such things about Parvati Patil. 

"It's getting late" Parvati said to him, eyes shifting away. Harry had to agree, they'd been there for a while. She leaned over and planted a kiss on his scar, soothing his pain.   
"I'll see you tomorrow" she said as she slowly walked away, hand still in his, until they're fingertips could only touch barely. She looked behind her at him once before she left the hospital wing. 

Harry couldn't control the butterflies in his stomach. Although he tried to. He remembered back to the day before when he had felt the same flutters inside him for another and within a day she turned them into tiny stabbing knives. He wondered if he should allow himself to feel for someone again. Could he trust someone with his heart? Harry didn't want to feel like the world was against him because he knew that wasn't true. He was just feeling very alone and betrayed at the moment. Part of him wanted to take in Parvati for all that she was worth and another part of him wanted to run away from his feelings so that he wouldn't get hurt. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, hoping that the thoughts that plagued him would disappear into the abyss of his dreamland. 

"Harry" he heard a whisper from beside his bed. He looked up to see none other than Ginny Weasley's large blue eyes staring at him, not far from his pillow. Alarmed, Harry sat straight up.   
"Sorry Harry I didn't mean to frighten you"

"What are you doing here Ginny"

"I've come to see you, too see that you were alright, and to give you a goodnight kiss"

Harry arched an eyebrow at Ginny, at himself, and at all the feelings that were collaborating in him at the moment. He had NO idea of what to think of this situation.   
"Ginny, are you mad?" He simply asked.   
"Mad at what, Harry?"

"No, mad, are you insane"

Ginny laughed, not realizing he was dead serious. 

"What are you talking about Harry"

"Well, you tell me you like me, I kiss you, I think we've shared something, then you go and tell your brother that it meant nothing, then you're flirting with Colin Creevy and now here you are saying you've come to give me a goodnight kiss and to tell you the truth I really don't know what to think"

"Harry I… wasn't flirting with Colin Creevy for one. The boy has a crush on me and we've been friends since first year, I'm not going to just ignore him because I have feelings for you… and I told Ron that not thinking you would take that so seriously and look into it so deeply… I didn't say it meant nothing, I just meant it was just a kiss and that he should back off… I said that for both of us… God I didn't know you were feeling this way or thought like this, Harry I wish you would have said something to me, I feel just awful" 

A tear began to build in her eye and Harry thought back on the last two days of his life. Growing up couldn't get any harder. He wondered how just one little thing that Ginny said built into a huge situation in his mind and heart and he almost hated her for that and she didn't mean it at all. And now, now… what was going on with Parvati? Harry just wanted to lie there and go into a temporary coma. Just to sort all of his thoughts and feelings out.   
"Harry? Harry please say something"

"Gin, I'm sorry… I just don't know what's going on right now… I need time." He felt awful saying this to her because a large part of him wanted to cuddle up with her then and there and let all his bad feelings melt away into her arms but he knew he couldn't. He knew he had to sort out exactly what he was feeling for whom before he made any moves that he would regret. 

A single tear drizzled down Ginny's face as she nodded sadly at Harry's request and left him there to wish he could comfort her properly. What _was_ he going to do with himself. 

Please Review! I need it!!


	7. How sweet they are

Chapter 7

Harry stared at the ceiling of the hospital wing. For once, he didn't want to leave it. 

"You can go now Harry" Madame Pomfrey said from the edge of his bed where she stood, arms folded, worried expression on her face. One could always tell when there was something wrong with Harry Potter. 

Harry sighed and rolled out of the bed. As he made his way back to the Gryffendor common room he thought he might as well think about his situation. 

On one hand, he had Ginny. He wondered if he liked her only because he wanted someone to be with and he knew she liked him. If it was convenience. No. Harry wouldn't like someone out of convenience, it wasn't like him. He did love Ginny though, he just wasn't sure if it was a brotherly love or a sexual love. He began to picture himself doing naughty things with Ginny to see if it felt right to him and then found himself wishing he was 12 again when none of this was an issue. 

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Ginny. He did feel protective over her and naturally he and Ron would have beat any young wizard who broke her heart. Harry never thought it would be him doing the breaking. Yet he was still afraid of Ron doing the beating. 

Then Parvati came into his mind. The thought of her was new and exciting and he felt comfortable around her. Not that he didn't feel comfortable around Ginny, but there was always something out of place there. Perhaps it was the voice in his head saying "Get away from her, she's your best friends little sister". Whatever it was, whether or not he and Ginny were supposed to be together, the time was not now. It just didn't feel right. Parvati felt right although a part of him wished it didn't. 

To keep Parvati liking him he'd have to act soon on it. But acting soon on it would kill Ginny. He wanted to bang his head against a near by wall. Luckily, he had reached the portrait hole. 

As Harry entered the common room, he looked around to see Gryffendor students in their usual Saturday state. Upon seeing him enter, Ginny got up and left the room. That hurt Harry but he figured he'd have to get used to it for a while. 

Now was not the time though. He retreated up the stairs to his dormitory and it didn't take long for Hermione to bust in. 

"Harry what DID you do to Ginny?" she asked, wide eyed, sitting down on his bed. 

Harry leaned his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes. 

"I wanna go back to second year" he said solemnly, "Things were so much less complicated"

Hermione laughed and leaned her head on his shoulder, he leaned his head on hers.   
"Believe me Harry, I know exactly what you mean… tell me what happened"

"You just want the gossip"

"Harry, tisk tisk, I'm not a gossiper, I just want to help"

"Alright, but you have to promise to not tell Ron"

"I promise"

"I mean it Hermione"

"I PROMISE"

Harry told Hermione the whole story from walking to see Ron with Ginny to the very moment that she ran out of the common room 10 minutes earlier. He told her everything he was feeling about each and asked for her advice. 

"Oh Harry, you _are_ in a mess"

"Thanks, just what I wanted to hear"

Ron walked into the room and paused for a moment, looking at the two of them resting on each other.   
"Harry if you weren't like a brother to me I would kick your ass"  
"Ron don't swear" Hermione scowled. 

Ron simply smiled and jumped onto the bed with them. "What are you two talking about"

Neither Harry or Hermione had ever found it in them to lie to their best friend so Harry simply said, "How things were so much simpler when we were younger"

"I second that" Ron said, rolling his eyes and grabbing a pillow to rest his elbows on.

"It will always be us three though" Hermione said with a big smile, suddenly grabbing the two of them for a group hug. 

"Aw, isn't that just adorable" Seamus said from the doorway. He had Lavender Brown with him. 

"Has Parvati been surgically removed from your hip Lavender?" Ron said, laughing at his own joke. Lavender just gave him a dirty look and curled up on Seamus' bed. 

"Well I best be off, I told Angelina I'd meet with her about some strategies for next week's game and I'm just about 5 minutes late" Harry said, getting up from his bed. 

"See you at lunch, mate" Ron said as he walked out the door. 

Ron looked back and Hermione and realizing they were on a bed again, quickly both blushed and hopped up from it. 

"Wanna go outside?" Hermione suggested. 

"Sure" Ron smiled, following her out the door. 

When they reached the lawn, they found a tree and sat by it. Ron took Hermione's hand in his own and smiled at her sheepishly. 

"Are you ready to talk about us?" He asked simply. 

Hermione let go of his hand and placed the tips of her fingers on the bridge of her nose. This didn't look like a good sign to Ron and he sighed and quickly shifted his position to sit in front of her. He took her hands in his.   
"Hermione, look, I know you're scared, and I know you're worried about our friendship and you think its gonna be weird and awkward and uncomfortable and I just want you to know that I feel all those things too. And its probably going to take us a while to move into this and things are gonna feel very strange at first. But if our friendship could stand through all our quarrels that it can stand through our love too. Please, just give us a chance, I know you want to, I can see it in your eyes and feel it when we're together…"

Ron looked as though he was going to say something else and forgot so instead he just did what he knew always got to Hermione, he kissed her. 

Taking her head in his hands and kissing her with the passion that would show her exactly how he felt. Hermione couldn't say no to that. He pulled back and looked into her eyes, "What do you say , love"

"Yes" Hermione smiled at him, "Alright then, let's do this"

Ron was so happy he knocked the two of them onto the ground when he wrapped his arms around her in an excited embrace. 

As they layed on the grass, they smiled at each other.   
"You're not gonna regret this Hermione, I promise" he said to her, kissing her on the forehead. How sweet they were. 

Ehhhh there had to be a little fluff in there! Please reviewwww!!


	8. By her side

****

Chapter 8

Harry found himself on the Quidditch field throwing bludgers into the air and whacking them as hard as he could. He found this relieved his stress a little bit but however didn't help him to think too clearly. The more he thought about the romance situation at hand, the more confused he became about it. 

After a while, his arm began to hurt and he decided to go inside. Harry was walking around in a daze, lost in thought. He next found himself in the shower, washing away his woes and dirty thoughts, oh how he wished he could be 12 again. He exited the steamy shower, wrapped a towel around his waste, and stood in front of the mirror to take a look at his 15 year old self. 

Harry was about 5'9'' these days, his black hair no longer mopped down around his head and on his forehead, but stuck straight in the air and shot out in all directions. He touched his scar, it was visible to all with his hair like that, but he'd stopped caring. He had grown rather muscular from Quidditch, with defined shoulders and chest. He thought to himself for the first time ever that he really wasn't a bad looking chap. At this point, his glasses began to fog up and he decided it was time to stop staring at himself and perhaps get some food. 

When he walked into the great hall, Ron and Hermione were already in there laughing and munching on some sandwiches. He took a seat across from them and the three began to chat about what was going on in the castle. 

"I think it's definitely you-know-who" Hermione whispered across to Harry.   
"I wish we knew something more"

Just then Harry felt someone plop down next to him. 

"Hi Harry, feeling better?" Parvati said with a smile. 

Harry couldn't help but smile back at her, her mere presence brought a tingle to him and he lit up. 

"Yes thank you" he said politely. 

Hermione gave Harry a sympathetic look and started talking about the up and coming charms quiz so Parvati could have a part in the conversation. Harry took notice that throughout their time sitting there, Parvati kept bumping her leg up against his. He rather liked this and found himself joining in on her little game of footsie and took it a step up by putting his hand on her thigh every once in a while. This was new and exciting to Harry and he stopped to think for a moment that he could be like this with Parvati but he could never be like that with Ginny. Especially around Ron, he would just feel odd. 

One point for Parvati. 

Just then, Professor Dumbledore stood and asked them to remain quiet for a moment. 

"Please, all prefects, lead the students in your houses back to the dormitories and stay there for the remainder of the day and evening. There is to be no wondering the halls or going outside."

As the Gryffendor students followed Hermione and the other prefects to the dormitories Harry made his way over to Dumbledore. 

"Professor? What is it? Is there any way I can help?"

"Oh Harry I'm sure even if I told you there was not, you would find a way to help" Dumbledore said to him, trying to seem somewhat not glum. 

"Well, what has happened?"

"There is a student missing, and we have reason to believe that he has been harmed"

"Why is that professor?" 

"Well we found an item of his and a trail of blood to the secret entrance that leads to Hogsmade. We have many powerful wizards trying to find him and doing all that they can so I must ask you, Harry, to not go looking for him. If this is indeed the work of Lord Voldemort… well, Harry, we know you are his main target…"  
"I understand, professor."

"Thank you, Harry, now, be on your way, I'm going to need you to look after the students in your house tonight and keep them calm"

"Yes, sir."

Harry made his way back to the Gryffendor common room, and saw professor McGonagall making her way out. She frowned at him and gave a rather large sigh. She looked as though she was going to say something and then just walked away.   
"Weird" Harry thought to himself. As he walked into the portrait hole he saw students in a sort of frenzy. Some gossiping, some sitting in silence, some crying, some writing letters home.

Two fourth year girls came down the stairs and walked over to Ron and Hermione. 

"Ginny wont stop crying, we're afraid she's going to make herself sick, she's in an awful state right now, we were wondering if you could give her a try."

Ron and Hermione ran up the stairs to comfort their sister and friend. Harry wondered if he should follow. He did, but a good distance behind. He stood outside the doorway and listened/watched Ron and Hermione try and comfort Ginny. 

"Ginny, please stop crying" He heard Ron say.   
He looked in to see Hermione, frowning and pushing the hair out of Ginny's wet face. She looked horribly upset and he wished that there was something he could do. Instead, he sat and watched her cry. 

Ron and Hermione soon gave up and left her with a glass of water and a box of tissues. On their way out of the room, they found Harry sitting in the hallway, back against the wall. 

"Perhaps you should give it a try Harry" Hermione suggested, helping him up from the floor.

"She's not crying because of me is she?" Harry asked Hermione.

"No, Colin Creevy is missing and presumed harmed or dead"

Harry felt guiltily relieved for a moment that it was not him that was causing her this pain but then shortly realized what a horrible state she must be in right now. 

He didn't know what he would say to her once he got in there or if she would even want him near her, but he nodded his head and entered Ginny's bedroom. He looked at her, sitting on the bed, race red and tearstained. He stood for a good thirty seconds, just watching her cry, and she then flipped over on her side and buried her face into her pillow to muffle the sobs. Harry couldn't think of a single thing to say except "Ginny I'm so sorry"

He got no response from her. He walked over to her bed and sat down. He knew that he could comfort her, he just didn't know how. He looked to the door to see Ron and Hermione peering in from the crack and wondered if he should do this with her brother watching. He decided that Ginny needed him right now and that was what was most important. 

He layed down on the bed behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He began to pull the wet hair off of her face and push it behind her ears. He kissed her once on her shoulder and told her it was going to be ok. He was silently hoping that Ron wasn't still watching and that Ginny would give some response to show that this was working and that he wasn't risking his friendship with Ron for nothing. 

She then turned to face him and buried her face into his shoulder and sobbed. He continued to hold and rock her and he knew that she felt safe in his arms. This was what she needed at the moment and he was glad he was there to give it. He continued to hold her and kiss her and he didn't care how long he had to be there for her, he just needed to know she felt loved and safe his arms and that was enough to keep him there, comforting her. 

*Sorry so short, but I'll update soon!… please keep the reviews coming or I might not have motivation to write!


	9. Secrets and lies

****

Chapter 9

Hermione watched the expression on Ron's face as he observed his best friend comforting his little sister. This was very odd to him and he really didn't know how to feel about it. On one hand, he thought to himself that he rather it be Harry than someone else. On the other hand, he didn't want to see Harry touching his sister like that.   
Then he looked closer at the two of them. Harry was comforting her where he and Hermione could not. Maybe she needed that person in her life, and if that person happened to be Harry, then so be it. Ron had decided at that very moment that he would support Harry and Ginny and their relationship. 

"Come on Ron, let's leave them alone" Hermione said, tugging at his sleeve. The two of them walked back down to the common room in silence. 

***

Ron awoke the next morning with a smile on his face, dreams of Hermione as usual. They've plagued his dreams since the day he met her. They'd only gotten more detailed over the last year and he wasn't complaining about that. 

He felt a grumble in his stomach. He was certainly ready for a big Sunday breakfast. He rolled over to see if Harry was awake and he found an empty, made bed. Thoughts began racing through Ron's mind and he took back every promise of support that he had made to himself the night before. 

Ron grabbed a robe, put it on, and left his room. He traveled down to the girls dormitories and decided perhaps he should take a few breaths before busting in and beating the living day light out of his former best friend for shagging his little sister. When he entered the room, he saw the curtains drawn around Ginny's bed and it looked as though all the other girls in the room had gone to breakfast already. He pulled back the curtain to see Harry and Ginny, lying in almost the same position he had left them in the night before. He felt a little relieved but still suspicious. He tapped on Harry's shoulder to wake him up. 

Harry slowly opened one eye and then the other and looked up at Ron.   
"Ron… its not what it looks like… I just… we just… fell asleep"

"Well, come on let's go, you wouldn't want anyone to see you like this."

Harry carefully unraveled himself from around Ginny, trying not to wake her, and guiltily looked at Ron for touching his sister in such a manor. 

When they reached the hall Harry was afraid to say anything at all, he didn't know how Ron felt about all this and he didn't want to provoke any anger. 

"Is she feeling better?" Ron asked.   
"I dunno, I hope so, she didn't say anything at all, just cried" Harry told him, looking at the floor.   
"We've got to get to the bottom of this Harry"

"Yea, I know, Hermione's probably going to want to go to the library, I'll meet you down there, I'm gonna take a quick shower"  
"Alright then Harry, see you in a bit"

Ron did all he could do to not say something about Harry sleeping with his sister, even if it _was _innocent. He still didn't like it one bit. 

He walked into the common room to see Hermione sitting in front of the fire, wrapping her finger around a single curl that draped in front of her face. This certainly got his thoughts off Harry and his sister.   
"Hello Ron"

"Hello Hermione"

"Where's Harry?"  
"He's taking a shower, he said he'd meet us at the library, though I really don't know what we're going to be looking up considering we don't have evidence of anything or any clues to lead us in any which direction that would involve book reading"

"Stop your rambling Ron, its better than sitting around. Perhaps we can research Lord Voldemort or something. Just make ourselves useful."

Ron naturally nodded and followed Hermione out of the common room. 

"So is Ginny alright?" 

"I dunno, why don't you ask Harry, the bloody git slept with her last night"  
"HE DID _WHAT_"

"No no not like that" Ron said, laughing, "Are you kidding, he'd be dead right now! No I mean he fell asleep with her"

"Oh, well I think that's sweet"  
"Well I think it's disgusting. I don't like those two together, I don't like it at all"

"They're not together, he's just being there for her, besides, Harry likes someone el…" Hermione's eyes grew wide and she wished she hadn't started that particular sentence. 

"What was that? Harry likes someone else? He's messing around with my little sister?"

"No no Ron its not like that! Ginny knows he doesn't want to be with her"

"Well why doesn't he want to be with her?! You're telling me there's someone better than Ginny in this school?! What's Harry playing at?!"

"Ron, I thought you didn't want Harry to be with Ginny" Hermione was quite confused at this point. 

"Who does Harry like? And why don't I know about it? And why do you know about it and you haven't told me? What kind of honest relationship do we have that you don't even tell me who my best friend likes."

"Ron stop being a stupid prat, if Harry wanted you to know he would have told you. Obviously he was afraid you would act like this, and oh look, he was right! If I were him, I wouldn't have told you either!"

"Oh that's just lovely Hermione, maybe you were right about us after all" and with that, Ron turned and walked away from her, leaving her in the hallway to begin to cry. He heard the soft whimper but couldn't give her the satisfaction just yet. He turned a corner and stood against a wall, taking a deep breath and wondering if he overreacted. Should he go back and apologize?

Hermione stood in disbelief of what just happened. Did he just break up with her? She could feel her eyes swelling with tears as she watched him walk away. She stood there paralyzed, wishing he would turn around and apologize to her but he disappeared around a corner and she backed up to lean against a corridor wall. She closed her eyes and let the tears fall, how could the boy she loved make her feel like this?

Just then she felt someone put their hand over her mouth. She opened her eyes, hoping to see Ron or Harry but it was Draco Malfoy.   
"Hello mudblood… get in a fight with your weasel?"

The tears ran quicker down Hermione's face and she tried to get out of Malfoy's grasp but he had his hand tightly around her wrist and his body pressed firmly against hers. 

"Well, Granger, I was supposed to just kidnap you, but now that I have you here, alone, I might as well have my way with you first."

Hermione tried to scream but only got a muffled noise out before he started kissing her neck and rubbing his hand up her skirt. 

Ron took a deep breath and decided he should go back and find her and apologize for being the prat that he was. She and Harry were both right. He does have an attitude problem and doesn't know how to control his temper. If he were them, he wouldn't have told himself either. He turned the corner to see that Hermione wasn't in the hallway anymore. Damn. She probably went back to the common room, he thought. He began to make his way down the hallway and as he glanced over to a dipped corridor, he saw his Hermione being ravished by Draco Malfoy. He quickly pulled him off her and before the terms "wand" or "magic" could even cross his mind, his natural instinct took over and he connected his fist with Malfoy's with all the rage he'd felt for him for the past 5 years. 

Draco stood up, holding his nose and his wand. Ron grabbed it with no fear and snapped it in half. Malfoy decided there would be no way to get around it and began to drift down the hallway.   
"Talk, Granger, and you _will_ be dead, I can assure you of that." he said as he disappeared around a corner. 

Ron looked over to Hermione who had slid down the wall and was sitting against it, vacant expression on her face, tears still wet on her cheeks.

"Hermione, Hermione are you alright? What did he do to you?"

Hermione just sat there staring into blank space.  
"Hermione, please say something" Ron looked as though he was going to start crying himself. 

"He didn't do anything to me" She said, standing up, "You got here in time"

Ron looked relieved for a moment then went to embrace her in a hug. She pushed away from him though.   
"Hermione?"

"I just don't want to be touched right now Ron" she said, with a look of disgust on her face, "Let's just go back to the common room."

Ron looked hurt and he felt determined to harm Malfoy permanently. He didn't even want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't come in time. Although he worried that Hermione would turn him away forever, he understood that maybe she needed some time, and that she was probably mad that he left her there alone in the first place, subjected to harm, but God, he loved her, and wanted to be holding her right now. She was walking quickly back to the common room, they reached the portrait hole and spoke the password. They went in, and Hermione went straight up the stairs, not looking back once at Ron. 

*Eh sorry about that, but it will get happier!… its all part of the big plot going through my mind! But pleasepleaseplease review!! I'd like to thank **Tears from the Moon **for all your support and inspiration!! You really help me to continue updating! Thanks!!


	10. A long needed chat

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Chapter 10

Hermione stuffed her face into her pillow and cried through the remainder of the day. There were so many thoughts going through her mind. Parvati tried several times to talk to her and comfort her but she just wanted to be alone to deal with her unbearable feelings of guilt that were running inside her. 

Harry and Ron snooped around the castle for clues but could not find anything. Both boys were highly distracted, lost in their own thoughts and be rather silent. 

"Ron, we're best friends right?"

"Of course Harry"

"So we should be able to talk about anything right?"

"Right"

"Alright, sit. There's obviously something bothering both of us and I think it's time we talked to each other, you know, like we used to."  
Ron smiled to himself a bit. He had noticed that he and Harry had drifted and things weren't the same as they'd always been between them. Then again, that's always a part of growing up. And girls weren't always so involved in their lives. But he was glad that they were finally going to sit down and chat about things. Although he wasn't too sure that he should tell Harry about Hermione and Malfoy. He would wait and see how in depth Harry would want to get into conversation. 

"So, mate, what's been bothering you?" Ron asked first.  
"Promise not to hate me?"

Ron thought about that for a moment and wondered if he really wanted to know this.   
"I suppose" he smirked at Harry. 

Harry decided to tell Ron everything from beginning to end. Leaving out no details and feelings about each situation.

"Wow" Ron said aloud when Harry was finally finished. He was trying to think of something else to say or advice to give but he could not think of anything. Although he was surprisingly not mad at Harry for all the Ginny parts of the story. Plus it seemed as though Harry's situation was causing him enough stress without Ron being mad at him on top of it all. 

"Well?" Harry asked, waiting for Ron to say something, "Do you hate me?"  
"No, of course not Harry. In fact I think you're handling it well… I mean it's important that you're there for Ginny, but don't pretend to feel for her what you don't"

Harry smiled, feeling relieved that Ron understood but he didn't want to push the subject any longer in case Ron decided to change his mind and be the protective big brother that Harry knew he could be. 

"So, Ron, tell me what's on _your_ mind" 

Ron put his head down and wondered if he should tell Harry. He decided that he had a right to know. He told him only what he knew and saw as far as the Hermione and Draco situation went. 

"I don't know what's going on now. I mean I don't think he got very far with her but she hasn't told me what went on and I don't think she's come out of her room all day. I mean she's probably still upset about it but she wont let me near her. I think she's mad at me for leaving her there in the hallway, subjected to Malfoy's attack. But how was I supposed to know?"

"This just happened today?"

"Yes, this morning"  
"Well, Ron, maybe she's a little ashamed, I mean she probably feels dirty and violated. You have to give her some time but at the same time you cant stay away from her either, or she might think that you don't want to be around her any more because she has been tainted by Malfoy… I mean there could be so many things going on in her head right now and you're just lucky that you were there in time, cause Malfoy would have gone all the way through with it and you know it."

"I know, I don't even want to think about it… I just wish I knew what her feelings were toward me now… I just want to comfort her but she doesn't want me near her".   
"Do you want me to talk to her?"

"Could you Harry? I mean… just let her know that I still want to be with her and I wish she would talk to me"

"Of course… I'll go do that now actually, this needs to be cleared up… poor thing"

"Thanks Harry, I'm really glad we talked… getting older sucks"

"Haha, I second that"

***

Harry made his way into the girl's dormitory and knocked on Hermione's door. Parvati answered.  
"Hi Harry, I was just about to go get some lunch, you want to come?"

"Actually I came to check up on Hermione…" he whispered to her.   
The two went out into the hall for a moment so they weren't talking about Hermione right in front of her.   
"She's in an awful state, what happened? Was it something that Ron did?"

"No, not exactly, she hasn't said anything all day?"

"No, she's just cried and slept"

Harry noticed that he and Parvati were quite close as they were talking, leaning up against the wall. This intoxicated him and he feared that he should step away but Parvati grabbed his hand. 

"Will you meet up with me later then Harry?"

"Yea, sure I will"

She leaned in and for a moment Harry thought she was going to kiss him right on the lips, but she came to his ear. 

"See you later" she breathed hot breath into his ear and kissed him softly on the cheek.

'Oh boy' Harry thought as he stood against the wall for another moment before entering Hermione's room. 

He couldn't tell if she was sleeping or not, and he made his way over to the bed and sat on it. 

"Hermione are you alright?"

She shook her head "no" but didn't remove it from the pillow. 

He began to rub her back with his hand and tried to think about what he would say without revealing that Ron told him what happened. 

"Ron's awful upset that you're not talking to him, do you wanna talk about it"

Hermione sat up and Harry could see that she'd been crying for a while.   
"It's not Ron" Hermione said silently.  
"Well what is it?" 

Hermione gave Harry a brief summary of what happened and he did his best to try and act like he already didn't know. But Hermione told Harry one thing that Ron didn't, what Draco had said to her about kidnapping.   
"Does Ron know this"

"No, please don't tell him, I'm afraid he really will kill Malfoy."

"Alright, I wont, but I promise you that we will get to the bottom of this."

"Thank you Harry."

Hermione leaned her head on Harry's shoulder and allowed him to continue to stroke her head, it made her feel somewhat better. 

"So why wont you talk to Ron, Hermione? Are you mad that he didn't come soon enough"

"No, that's not it… I don't know Harry, I…"

"Go ahead"

"I think I just need some time"

"He'd do anything for you, you know… he loves you so much, he'd die for you Hermione, you have to understand that your pain is his pain, even though he may not show it well."

"Harry don't be silly, we're 15 years old, we don't know a thing about love. And as far as I'm concerned we know far too much about death."

"Agreed. But love isn't something you learn about, it's something you possess. And Ron? He loves you, I've seen it in him since our first year. He doesn't talk about his emotions much but I can see it in his eyes."

"This is all so strange to me Harry, things were so much less complicated when we weren't filled with raging hormones" 

"Haha, that's what I've been saying all along! … Oh well Hermione, we just have to adjust!" 

"Humph… I suppose". 

"Now, come on, what do you say we go down stairs, maybe get a spot to eat, and maybe you and Ron can go talk things out somewhere…?"  
"Alright… I guess we could do that"  
Hermione smiled at Harry, he always seemed to know what to say and how to make her feel better. He was truly the best friend she would ever have. 

~Alright well that's on a lighter note… but there's more to come… !! Please **review** or I might not be encouraged to write tonight! :-O Thanks to all those who reviewed, I love all your ideas and support, keep it coming!

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~Hogwarts Hoe


	11. What she needs

****

Chapter 11

When Harry and Hermione entered the common room, they saw Ron sitting on the couch with Ginny.

"Feeling better then, Ginny?" Harry asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

"She'll be alright, wont you Gin" Ron said, getting up from the couch. Ron looked at Hermione and she returned his questioning stare. Neither of them knew what to say. Ron wanted to bring comfort to her Hermione and show her that no matter what happened in their lives, he would always love her just as much as he always had. But he didn't know how. 

Hermione looked to Ron with guilt. It was eating away at her. Could he see it? He could see right through her and he knew what she did, didn't he? Hermione almost began to cry. 

"Well then" Harry said, breaking the silence, "How about some lunch"

The four began to walk out of the common room, and Harry put his hand on Ginny's back, guiding her out of the room; bringing that ever so present comfort to her that Harry always possessed. Harry knew he brought this to her and wondered if he should continue this, knowing that in the end, it would not be her who he would choose, and when that day comes, he probably wont be that pillow to her anymore. Was this just hurting the both of the more? He figured he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. 

Ron tried to put a hand on Hermione as they sat down in the great hall but she flinched and pulled away. Ron tried not to blow up but he was never one to hold feelings back.   
"Alright, Hermione, we have to talk"

Hermione just glared at him, expecting him to say what he had to say right then and there in front of everyone. But he did not.   
"Come on then" he said, grabbing her hand and walking out of the great hall. 

***

Harry sat there with Ginny and suddenly felt very awkward. He didn't really have anything to say to her. The moments that they shared that their words connected them had passed. Those were the only moments of that verbal connection that they would share. Now, their connection was purely physical and Harry knew he couldn't stay in that situation for too much longer. But he knew that Ginny still needed that connection with him and he knew that even though he knew better, he would always give her what she needed. 

Harry snapped out of his trance as Parvati sat down next to him. She looked from him to Ginny and it was then that Harry realized how deceitful he was being. He was going from Ginny to Parvati, leading them both on, and the two didn't have a clue about each other. This wasn't like him. Harry didn't do this. He needed to figure out a solution to this new girl problem in his life and he needed to figure it out now. 

"Am I interrupting something…" Parvati asked, looking as though she was about to leave.   
"No, no, not at all, but I need to go to the library…" he said nervously, getting up from the table, "Ginny will you be alright? Do you want me to take you back to the common room?" He asked, not being able to just leave her there.   
"I'm alright thank you Harry" she said quietly, somewhat glaring at Parvati. 

Harry began to walk out, his heart racing, not knowing what was going on with him. When he reached the hallway, he leaned up against the wall and closed his eyes. What _was_ he going to do with himself.   
"Harry, is there something I did?"

Harry opened his eyes to see Parvati standing there, hurt expression on her face. 

"No, Parvati, it's not you… I've just been having a … weird… week… and I need some fresh air or something, I'll talk to you later."

With that, Harry nearly ran down the hall, and out the castle. 

***

When Ron and Hermione reached the common room, Hermione jerked her hand from Ron's. 

"Let go of me! What's the meaning of all this?!" Hermione screeched as she folded her arms.   
Ron looked around to see how much of a commotion they were causing but there was no one else in the common room. 

"Sit down Hermione"

The two sat down at a table across from one another. 

"Hermione, look, I know you're upset about this morning but it's no reason to ignore and not let me near you. I tried 5 times to come into your room today and 5 times you told me to go away but you let Harry in to talk to you? What's that all about? _I'm_ you're boyfriend, not Harry. You don't tell me what happened, you don't tell me how you're feeling, and you wont even let me touch you. Please, tell me what's going on. Is it because of our fight this morning?"

Hermione sat there looking at him and couldn't help the tears that began to stream down her face. He didn't know. He couldn't see it. She was wrong… but still guilty. 

"Hermione, please don't do this… please. I just want to be here for you but I can't be if you don't want me to be." Ron slowly crept his hands across the table and tried to take her hands in his, but she pulled away.   
"See" he said, sighing and leaning back in his chair.   
"I'm sorry Ron, it isn't you"  
"Well then what is it Hermione? There has to be something"  
"Well if you must know, you're going to not want to be with me anymore, so we might as well get it over with now. 

"Hermione what are you talking about, why wouldn't I want to be with you?…. Wait a second… Malfoy _was_ trying to rape you wasn't he?"

Hermione just sat there and cried, she couldn't tell him, the words wouldn't come out of her mouth. 

"Hermione? Was that not against your will?"  
"No, Ron, he _was_ trying to rape me"

Ron let out a sigh of relief and then realized it wasn't that great of a victory and looked back to Hermione. 

"Then _what_ is it?" he asked, getting impatient with her.   
Hermione cried into her hands and barely mumbled the phrase "I liked what he was doing"

But Ron heard it loud and clear. He sat back down in the chair and stared blankly at her, then a look of disgust made its way onto his face. "You _what_"

"I'm so sorry Ron, I feel awful, but when he was doing those things to me, I figured that I wasn't going to get out of it… so… I… pictured it as you… and allowed myself to enjoy it, and I felt awful because afterwards I found myself more upset that you don't touch me like that, then I was at Malfoy for touching me like that in the first place."

Ron put one hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. 

"Hermione, what are you saying"

"I dunno"

"Hermione, we've been together for a total of a day, I wasn't going to just give into my hormones in the first day we're together. You think I don't want to do things to you? Do you know what's been running through my head for years now? You couldn't even _imagine_ what I think about… but I thought that _you_ wouldn't want those things. I thought that if I even _kissed_ you like I wanted to, I'd get a slap in the face… I just wanted to respect you…"

"Are you mad"

Ron thought about it for a minute. He _was_ mad. He couldn't help it. He watched the tears drip down her face and decided that he could silently be mad at her, she didn't need a fight right now.   
"No" he said, forcing a smile. He was glad he did that cause as soon as the word came out of his mouth, a smile busted onto Hermione's face and she leapt from her chair and into his arms.

"Haha, and just for you, I'll try to act more horny" 

Hermione burst out into laughter at this comment, it was just what she needed. And Ron made a promise to himself that from now on, he'd be giving her more and more of what she needed. 

****

~Review! Review!


	12. No frowns, only smiles

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Chapter 12

Monday. Oh how Harry loathed Mondays. He rolled over to see Ron still sleeping a happy slumber. He decided that he was happy for Ron, and he wished that his love life could be so simple. Love life. When did that become a term he used in his life? 

He decided to go down to breakfast. When he reached the common room, he found Parvati and Lavender sitting on the couch, giggling about something. He hadn't missed that. He wondered if he should sneak on by them, but then he wondered why he was trying to avoid Parvati, he liked her very much, and he shouldn't have to hide that. 

He walked up behind the couch and leaned over it.   
"Good morning girls" he said with a smile. Lavender raised and eyebrow then quickly got up from her seat when Seamus entered the room.   
"I'll see you at breakfast Parvati?"

"Sure" she said, glaring at Lavender for being so childish. 

Harry took a seat next to Parvati on the couch and just continued to smile at her. 

"What's with you this morning, smiles?" she said, elbowing him playfully. 

"I don't know, I think I've decided to relax a little"

"Well, I like that idea!"

Harry impulsively leaned over and kissed Parvati on the cheek.   
"What was that for?" She said, blushing crazily.

"Just for brightening my morning" He said with a rather large grin, taking her hand, "Come on, let's go to breakfast"

The two got up, still hand in hand and left the common room. Yes, Harry had stopped caring. He was going to relax and give into his impulses and do what he felt. He was hoping that he would like this new Harry and that it would not interfere with the Harry that always took over. 

***  
Harry spent most of his day with Parvati. He never realized how many classes he had with her. He sat with her in almost every class and enjoyed their childish games of footsie and handsie that they played under the desks. Then came divinations. He could never stand the way Parvati and Lavender sucked up to the professor and he hoped like hell that she'd cool it today.   
Thirty minutes into the period and so far so good. Then Trelawny came over to Harry and stared him down.   
"What is it professor?" He was afraid to know.   
"There's a disturbance in your ora" she said to him, squinting her eyes more and more. 

"Thanks, I'll take note of that" Harry said, wishing she would shut up and go away. 

"There's a female presence in your life that is causing a disturbance… the placement of her is not right" She tried to take Harry's hand to presumably read his palm but he resisted. Trelawny might be a wack job, but she was some what right. He immediately thought of Ginny and the disturbance she was causing in he and Parvati's relationship. 

He glanced at Parvati and it was apparent she was not thinking of Ginny. No, the look on her face said that she thought it was _her_ who was causing this disturbance in Harry's life. Before he could say anything or defend her, she had asked to go to the bathroom and was out of the room. 

Harry didn't bother asking, he just got up and followed her out of the room.   
"Parvati, wait up"  
She turned around looking as though she was going to cry but there were no tears yet.   
"I'm sorry Harry, I'll stay out of your life"

"Parvati please" he beckoned, taking her hand, "First of all, I know you believe in it, but I don't, I think that all that divination mumbo jumbo is stupid and I don't believe a word of it. Second…if she was right… it's not you… alright? I want you in my life"

Parvati smiled and Harry wiped the single tear off her face that had crept out of her retrain. Harry thought about kissing her right then and there but was interrupted by Dumbledore.   
"As I'm sure you two have good reason to be out, I believe you two are supposed to be in class right now" He said, looking at them over his glasses. 

"Yes Professor" Harry said, giving Parvati a push toward the astronomy tower stairwell. 

"Harry, could I speak to you for a moment" Dumbledore asked. 

"Of course" Harry watched Parvati walk away and nodded at her, telling her he'd be right up.

"Harry, you'll excuse me if I'm budding into your business, but I can't help but notice that you've been looking troubled lately. 

Harry chuckled a bit, "Yes, I've had a few things on my mind"

"Well, I'm sure any boy of 15 has a few things on his mind, and you my dear boy, have more things to think about than your regular 15 year old boy which would naturally add some stress onto you. I can advise, only my dear boy that you do not take on the troubles of others."

Harry nodded at Dumbledore… he seemed to always know what was going on. A little creepy sometimes. 

"Thank you professor"

Dumbledore winked at Harry and turned to walk down the hallway. 

***

After dinner, Ron and Harry sat playing a game of chess.   
"You know, Ron, one of these days I'm going to beat you"

"Ha, it will never happen"

"I know, I just like to tell myself that"

The two talked and laughed for a bit. They'd made a bit of an effort to spend time with each other and talk more. But Harry noticed that Ron kept staring in the direction of Hermione reading her book in the corner, and that Hermione had yet to turn a page. Now this wasn't entirely new, they'd gone on like this for years now. But tonight was different. They could actually be off somewhere snogging and Harry wasn't about to hold them back. Besides, he had some unfinished business to take care of with Parvati. 

"I'm going to take a walk a bit, maybe I'll catch you guys later" Harry said upon losing his fourth game of chess.   
"Alright then Harry" Ron said, getting up from his seat also. He was kind of glad seeing as though he only had one thing on his mind, and playing chess with Harry was not it. 

He walked over to where Hermione was "reading her book" and wrapped his arms around her and began kissing the side of her face.   
"Ron! Not here!" she playfully whined. Though he could tell she was happy. 

"Alright then, I'm going to take a shower…" he could see Hermione looked disappointed. "…. I'll be out in 10-15 minutes if you maybe wanna meet me in my room." He finished with a devilish grin.

"You might find me there" Hermione whispered, feeling just as devilish. She liked this side of Ron and she was not about to waste it. 

****

~Hope you like where I'm going with it… there will be a twist soon… ooo better come back and read some more!

Review like you've never reviewed before!! :-D 


	13. Tingly and excited

****

Chapter 13

Harry wondered where in the world Parvati could be, he had checked the library, the great hall, the common room, and he had even gone outside looking for her. He was about to give up when while passing a classroom, he saw her gathering books at a desk. There was no one else in the room. He figured she was in there to get some privacy and some work done. 

Harry decided to be spontaneous and surprise her. He came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hello, Luv" he said, taking in the scent of her neck and hair. She ripped away from him quickly and gasped at the sight of him. 

Harry's stomach dropped to the floor. "I am SO sorry Padma, I thought you were … well I obviously thought you were Parvati"

Padma took a moment to look at him and blush for the way that he was touching her. She then smiled at Harry.   
"Don't worry about it.. I can't say as though I'm not surprised though, I had no idea that my sister was snogging with Harry Potter"

Harry was a little taken back, "You mean she didn't tell you?"

"Well that's not entirely surprising, we don't get to talk a lot in school. I mean, being her twin, I sensed that something strange was going on with her, she hasn't been herself lately, but this… this is a surprise."

"Could you maybe… not tell her that this happened?"

Padma laughed. "You're secret it safe with me, Harry Potter"

"Thank you". Harry felt more than embarrassed and figured he should go find the real Parvati before his feelings of guilt and mortification took over him. 

***

As Ron stepped out of the shower and dried himself off, he had no idea what was going to happen that night. He wasn't sure of Hermione's boundaries or even what she liked and disliked. He was so nervous that he was getting himself all worked up and the color of red, would not disappear from his face. 

Ron wrapped a towel around his waist and walked out into his room. He was surprised to see Hermione, sitting in his bed in her night shirt, reading his latest Quidditch magazine. 

He stopped to stare… he couldn't help it, it was just the most sexy thing he had ever seen. 

"Well are you just gonna stand there and stare at me?" Hermione said, smiling at his stance. 

"I might" he replied truthfully. 

The two chuckled a bit and Ron walked over to his chest and got out a pair of boxers and a tee shirt and carefully dressed without exposing himself to Hermione. 

"Well come on then" she sat, patting the space next to her on his bed. Ron was nervous beyond all belief. Ron was so nervous he felt as though he couldn't move. He thought she couldn't possibly feel the same way about him as he did about her because she was not this nervous.   
"Ron is something wrong? You're shaking"

"No, no, just cold" he lied, embarrassed to be acting so childish. 

"Well then come get under the covers" she said with yet another devilish smile. 

Ron pulled back the covers to reveal Hermione's bare legs. This made him shake even worse than he was before.   
"Honestly, Ron, are you sick or something"

Ron felt an awful pinging in the pit of his stomach. 

"I think I might be" he said, running from the bed and into the bathroom. 

Ron found himself, head in toilet, releasing all his feelings for Hermione into the porcelain bowl. 

'This can't be a good thin' he thought to himself. Who pukes from getting into the same bed with their girlfriend?

"Ron are you alright" Ron looked up to see Dean Thomas standing in the bathroom giving him a look of sympathy. 

"What's wrong with you, you look like you just guzzled a gallon of butter beer." 

"Worse," Ron said, making his way to the sink and splashing some water on his face, "Hermione's in my bed"

Dean began to laugh, "Man, what's wrong with you? You should be happy about that, instead you're in here puking your bloody brains out? There's something wicked wrong with that situation"

"Don't have to tell me twice"

"What are you so nervous about? Are you two gonna shag or something"

"No, no! Definitely not, I don't even know what it is, just the sight of her in there made me sick to my stomach"

"You must really like this girl for her to get to you that bad" Dean said, patting Ron on the back, "They're just nerves mate, you gotta overcome them"

"How?"

"Naturally? I don't know… but you could do a relaxation spell for now"

"Sounds good to me"

"Want me to do it"

"Sure"  
Dean pulled his wand out of his robes and pointed it at Ron. 

"Impendus Relaxo"

Ron immediately felt better. The feeling in the pit of his stomach was gone and he didn't feel as though he'd be visiting anymore old dinner any time soon. 

"Thanks Dean!" Ron said, smiling largely and giving him a smack on the back.

"No problem! Now go get 'em tiger!" Dean joked as Ron skipped out of the bathroom. 

Ron entered back into his dorm room to find Hermione laying down, looking as though she was sleeping. 

"Oh don't tell me you're going to sleep on me" he joked, jumping on the bed.   
"Ron, do you not like me anymore?"

"Hermione don't be silly, of course I still like you, I've always liked you and I will always like you… there's nothing in the world you could possibly do to make me stop, you're stuck with me now!" He threatened as he playfully started nipping at her neck and ear. 

Hermione joined in on his playful flirtations by squealing and pretending to want to get away from him. 

"Come here you" he said, pulling her into him. They began kissing for the first time since they'd decided to be an official couple. Hermione took note of just how passionately Ron kissed her and couldn't imagine kissing anyone else for the rest of her life. 

Ron remembered what Hermione had said about "touching her" and wanted to so badly. He had more confidence from the spell that Dean did on him, but no spell was enough to make Ron Weasley put his hands in places forbidden to all on Hermione Granger. Just being pressed up against her in his bed was enough to intoxicate Ron for a good week and a half he figured. None the less, he gave into his fifteen year old boy like instincts and grazed a hand along the back of her thy. He never thought he would get to feel her skin like that and he couldn't help but blatantly smile which interrupted their kiss.   
"Ronald Weasley what _are_ you so smiley about?"

"Just being here with you" he said, kissing her again, "Makes me all tingly and excited"

Well that was enough to do it for Hermione and she was on him like a fat kid on a cheeseburger. Ron decided that he thoroughly enjoyed this side of Hermione and was going to do everything in his power to make _this_ Hermione in charge, all the time. 

****

*Ahh well I'm trying to live up to my R rating… maybe some day I'll get there lol. I hope you're enjoying my story…. don't forget its gonna take a twist soon, so keep comin back! And please, for the love of Merlin, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!


	14. Playing big brother

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Chapter 14

After Harry exhausted the castle, he decided that Parvati must have gone to bed early. As he made his way to his dormitory he thought to himself how things were starting to get better for him. Well, in his love life anyway. There's that damned phrase again. 

Harry walked into his room to see Seamus' bed empty, and the bed curtains closed on Dean's and Neville's beds, as well as Ron's.   
"Ron are you asleep" he asked, beginning to undress for bed.   
"Um… no, not really" Ron giggled out.

Harry looked at the floor to see Hermione's slippers next to Ron's bed. And for the first time, he realized that he truly was jealous of Ron and Hermione, and what they shared. Even if it was just adolescent puppy love at the time, it was someone to share something with and to hold and be held by. Harry wanted that more than anything. He decided he was definitely going to take the next step with Parvati. But for now, he wasn't in the mood to fall asleep to the sounds of Ron and Hermione kissing, so he grabbed his Charms book and went down to the common room. 

The common room was empty except for one particular, sad looking red head curled up on the couch in front of the fire. As Harry came closer, he could see the tears on her face and the fear in her eyes. 

He forgot every promise he had made to himself to stay away from her. He just wanted to be there for her, to comfort her. He sat down next to her on the couch and put his head to hers and kissed her temple. 

"Come on then, Gin, you should go to bed."

Ginny just sat there, looking idly at the fire, tears dripping from nowhere. 

"Ginny?"

"What if he's dead Harry? What if I never see Colin again?"

"You will Ginny, I promise, Dumbledore is doing everything that he can"

Ginny didn't move, didn't even shift an eye. 

"You should get to bed"

"Cant… can't sleep…haven't slept in two days…"

Harry sighed, he knew he shouldn't, but part of him had to.   
"Ginny… did you sleep when I was in bed with you?"

She finally broke her staring contest with the fire and looked at Harry.   
"Yes" she whispered, in an almost embarrassed tone. 

"Alright then, come on" Harry said, taking her hand and leading her to her room. They were careful to be real quiet to not wake the others in the room. All Harry needed was gossip from 4th years that he and Ginny were shagging. 

Ginny undressed right in front of Harry, almost like she didn't notice he was there. He tried not to look but couldn't remove his gaze from her beautiful snowy skin. Harry himself decided that he rather not sleep in his uniform again and stripped down to his boxers and undershirt.   
The two climbed into the four poster bed and closed the bed curtains. As they climbed under the covers, Harry instinctively wrapped his arms around Ginny and held her close. He could almost smell the tears, still stained on her face and a bit of her wet hair was touching his forehead. He would do anything to take away her pain. 

"Goodnight Ginny" he whispered in her ear, kissing the side of her face.   
"Goodnight Harry" She whispered back, kissing him back. But her kiss was on the lips. And as hard as Harry tried not to, he couldn't help but return it. 

Ginny rolled over to face him and Harry held her closer. As their kiss became more passionate and daring, so did they.   
Harry could feel Ginny's hand slide under his shirt and rub his bare back and it was all he could do not to roll over on top of her. It didn't help that she was pulling him that way.   
Harry knew this was wrong, but he also knew this was getting her mind of Colin. He didn't know right from wrong anymore and with Ginny beginning to unbutton her night dress he decided he needed to make a quick decision. 

"Ginny, we cant… we shouldn't be doing this"

Even in the dark, Harry could see that he had hurt her.   
"Look, it's not that I don't want to, it's just you're not in a place to be doing this right now… you're sad and feeling lonely and vulnerable, and I am just not going to be the guy to take advantage of that. I can't… I want to be here for you, and I'll hold you and comfort you for as long as you like, but I can't be doing this with you."

Ginny just rolled over to face the other direction, not saying a word back to him. Harry didn't know what he should do now. But her hand reached behind her and found his and wrapped it back around her as they had started. Harry sighed and smiled to himself and held Ginny close for the rest of the night. 

***

Ron woke up holding Hermione in his arms. What a great feeling it was. He didn't want to wake her but he knew that she better leave before the other boys woke. 

"Hermione" he whispered into her ear and shaking her a bit in his arms.   
"Hermione, wake up"

Slowly she opened her eyes and looked surprised at first but then smiled at the sight of him.   
"Oh dear," she said, sitting up in the bed, "I didn't mean to sleep here… I don't remember falling asleep"   
"Me either" Ron told her, truthfully. 

"Ron, do you think I could use Harry's invisibility cloak to go back to my room?"

"Sure, I'll get it."

Hermione gave Ron a kiss on the lips and wrapped the cloak around her and made her way out of the room.   
As she walked down the stairs, she saw Parvati trotting up them. Then she saw Harry came out of one of the 4th year girl's dormitory, half dressed. Harry bumped into Parvati and she stood there looking at him like he had three heads.   
Hermione felt SO bad for Harry at that moment and thought about knocking either him or Parvati down the stairs invisibly but she couldn't decide which in time.   
"Harry… what were you doing in there…" 

Hermione looked at Parvati and couldn't decide what emotion she was feeling… she looked hurt, surprised, mad, and confused all at the same time. 

"I… was… checking up on Ginny… making sure she was sleeping and such… she's been real upset about Colin lately.. And Ron's been preoccupied so I'm just playing big brother…" Harry said nervously. 

Hermione had to give him props for that, he didn't even lie. 

Parvati didn't look like she exactly bought it, and was looking him up and down.   
"You look a mess, Harry"

Hermione thought for a moment how happy Harry must be at this moment that they wear a uniform so that Parvati couldn't tell he was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. 

"Headed for the shower" Harry said, looking at the floor. 

Things were tense between them, Hermione wished there was something she could do. 

"Um… I'll catch up with you later Parvati" he said, giving her a forced smirk and running up the stairs past Hermione. 

Parvati stood with a contemplative look on her face. For a moment it looked like she was going to open Ginny's dorm room door. Hermione thought she'd take her out for sure if she even attempted that. But she did not, she just turned back down the stairs and walked to the common room. 

Hermione couldn't help but wonder what _was_ Harry doing….

****

…. Come back soon to find out what exactly Harry is up to!! … let me tell you ALL the characters are going to be surprised soon! Just wait and see. 

Review!!!!!!! PLEASE tell me what you think….


	15. What a boy wants, what a boy needs

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Chapter 15

During herbology, Harry observed the way that Ron and Hermione looked at each other. It was different than before. Almost like they shared a secret.   
"Ron… can I ask you something…"

"Sure Harry"

"Last night… you and Hermione didn't…."  
"Harry! Of course not! We've only been dating for 3 days!" Ron screamed/whispered at him. 

Harry laughed and realized it was silly of him to think that.   
"Good" he said, digging into a plant. 

"Why… is that what _you_ did last night"

"No!"

The two laughed at the awkwardness. They both realized as long as they'd been friends, they'd never talked about sex before. 

"Which one of us do you think will do it first?" Ron said, looking somewhat serious, which alarmed Harry a bit but he laughed it off anyway.   
"Ron, are you trying to make a bet with me that you'll shag Hermione before I shag your sister cause something about that just seems wrong"

"Well I was talking about Parvati… but now upon stating that I realize that she was not who you were with last night… Harry! Did you sleep with my sister again?!"

"I didn't mean to…" What a lame thing to say.   
"What did you trip and fall and land under her covers?"

"Ron… come on now, she was upset… she said she hadn't slept since I was there, and I just felt it was the right thing to do… please don't be mad"

Ron narrowed his eyes at Harry and then shrugged. "I just don't want her getting hurt, I know you care for her Harry, but she doesn't even know about Parvati…. And what would Parvati think of all this."

Harry rolled his eyes. It was the thought that had been embedded in his mind all morning. 

Ron patted Harry on the back, "You need to find a way out of this mate… find someone for Ginny or something of that sort"

"That's not entirely a bad idea Ron but I don't really have time to be scoping out boys for your sister, I have enough problems of my own." He laughed. 

"Understood" Ron said, grinning at Harry but half looking at Hermione again. That boy certainly did have a short attention span. 

***

When it came time for lunch, Parvati walked into the great hall and didn't sit with Harry. He wondered why but figured that something good probably happened in a class and she was all about gossiping about it with Lavender as the two usually did. But when she got up to leave, she didn't even look his way… Harry got up and followed her into the hallway. 

"Parvati is something wrong?"

Parvati raised her hands to him.   
"Well, you didn't say hello to me at lunch, I was wondering if something was wrong."

"You tell me Harry"

Ugh, Harry was so not looking forward to playing adolescent mind games with girls but he put it aside as another part of growing up and decided he was just going to work around it and try not to displease anyone. Something Harry always seemed to do.   
"Is this about divinations class?" 

"Maybe" Parvati said, folding her arms. 

Harry sighed, "Is this about this morning?"

"Maybe" she was now avoiding looking at him and Harry decided he had been going about Parvati all wrong. 

"Why don't you tell me what's on your mind then"

"Can't you figure it out."

"Parvati I'm not a mind reader"

Parvati just stood there looking at him. 

"Nope see, trying, can't read it" he joked and she finally cracked a smile. 

"Come on, why don't we take a walk outside and you can tell me why you're so angry with me."

They began to walk out of the castle. "I'm not angry with you Harry, I'm just… confused and wondering where all this is going."

"What do you mean"

"Well… we started out well, and then got progressively more flirtatious, but lately you've just seemed distant… and I feel like this is going nowhere, almost like you've lost interest in me"

"Parvati, look" he said, taking her hand, "I'm gonna be totally honest with you now."

Parvati looked a little nervous, like she didn't want to hear what Harry was about to say. 

"When I started to like you, I was somewhat involved with someone, but I don't have the same feelings for her anymore that she might still have for me… but she's going through a tough time right now and I need to be there for her, but it doesn't mean that I want to give up on us, me and you, I really do like you Parvati".

Harry was really nervous saying this to her and he could feel his hands shaking a bit. 

"Ginny" Parvati said solemnly, looking at the ground.

"Yes…. And if you were to believe any of what Trelawney said, it would be Ginny that was the female causing disturbance in my life, not you"

"You mean it?"

Harry nodded and smiled at her and she suddenly looked so happy that it made him even happier than he already was to get all that off his chest. 

Parvati flew into a hug with Harry and it felt so good to him to have her in his arms, close to his body. Much different than the feeling he got when close to Ginny. No doubt, it was sexually arousing to be close to any girl like that, but with Parvati, it was different, if felt right and like the last piece of a puzzle had suddenly been snapped into place. 

Harry pulled back from the hug and took Parvati's face in his hands. 

"You make me smile so much, you know that?" he whispered to her, right before he leaned in and clasped his lips with hers. Harry could feel the butterflies in his stomach float up through his body and out through his lips. It was like his head was spinning. This was certainly not the effect he got when he kissed Ginny. When he kissed Ginny, everything in his mind went blank and he felt as though this is what he had been missing. But he now realized that it was just the kiss that he had been missing. The female figure in his life. This was different. This _particular _kiss was everything he had been missing. He suddenly felt strange that he had gone so long without her. 

They finally broke away and just looked at each other. "That felt so right" Harry said out loud, not meaning to. 

Parvati smiled though, he could tell she was equally as excited about their lip locking as he was. They looked around to see several Hogwarts students staring at them, some giggling and pointing. Harry didn't care. He had what he wanted now. 

~Well Tears from the moon, that one was for you!! Haha I like them together so much, sorry to all you Ginny/Harry fans out there! But don't fret… we haven't seen the last of her! Oh and that surprise is still to come! … don't forget to review!!!  



	16. Can't deny it

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Chapter 16

Harry spent the better part of the next week with Parvati. Cuddling, snuggling, snogging, and more. She was everything he'd ever dreamed of in a girlfriend, she said the right things, did the right things, and kissed the right places as far as Harry was concerned :-0! They were never apart and to be truthful, Harry couldn't even remember going to class. It was like one passion war all week long. 

Harry had left her in the common room where Ron was teaching her to play chess and went to his room to get his charms homework. When he got into his room, the door shut behind him. 

"Harry we need to talk" Ginny said, standing against the door. 

"What is it Gin? Is something wrong"

"Yes there's something very very wrong"

Harry took her hand and led her to sit down on his bed. 

"What's going on?" He asked her, quite concerned. 

"What happened between us?"

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes, "Is this what this is about Ginny?"  
"Yes! One minute we're kissing in my bed and then next you have a _girlfriend_? And _Parvati Patil_? … Harry you hated her!" 

"People change Ginny"

"Not that quickly… Harry something's up, you've been acting so strange lately, not like yourself"

"Ginny, nothing is up, I like Parvati"  
"And you liked me too, what happened to that"

Harry didn't know what to say. He never really lost his feelings for Ginny, they just kind of got pushed aside when Parvati started to like him. 

"Well? What happened Harry"  
"I dunno" he told her truthfully. 

Ginny leaned in quickly and kissed Harry. He gave into this and couldn't deny that he still felt something in this kiss, he might always feel something for Ginny, he had always thought they'd end up together but they weren't. He was with Parvati. He pulled back abruptly. 

"Ginny you shouldn't be kissing me" he said, looking away.   
"I'm sorry Harry, but I had to show you, and you can't tell me you didn't feel anything for me"

She was right, Harry couldn't tell her that. 

"I'm sorry Gin," he mumbled, getting up and leaving the room.

Harry stormed down into the common room to see professor McGonagall leaving with a sad face.   
"What is it" Harry asked Ron who had his head in his hands.   
"Katie Bell has been kidnapped."

****

*Ah that's not quite the surprise … but you'll see soon enough! Sorry so short, but I have to go to work, I'll update it when I come home. Please leave me some encouragement via review!!


	17. Giving in

****

Chapter 17:

"Harry I think it's about time we did something about this" Ron said to Harry, who now had his eyes closed, just running through his thoughts. Harry looked up at them.   
"But where do we even start?" Ron asked openly.   
"I know where" Harry said as he looked to Hermione. She shook her head discretely but Ron saw the interaction. 

"What" he asked, "what do you two know that I don't" 

"Hermione, it's time to tell Dumbledore" Harry said to her seriously. 

"No Harry, I said NO"

"What's going on?" Ron asked, starting to get angry. 

Hermione reached forward and grabbed Harry's hand, dragging him out of the room. 

"Harry this is just going to cause problems" she said to him when they were alone on the stairwell.   
"Hermione stop being so selfish, Ron will get over the fact that you didn't tell him." Harry looked at Hermione who looked as though she was going to cry. "I'm sorry Hermione, I didn't mean that, I know its gonna be hard for you but we don't have to say anything about the…rape… we can just say he was trying to kidnap you. No one will ever know unless Draco tells them, and who would be proud of such a thing?" Harry thought about it for a moment, Malfoy probably would be proud of that; stupid git. 

"RON is the LEAST of my worries Harry. What happens when I have the Malfoy's and other Deatheaters angry with me. What if they come after me or harm my family. What if this is some big plot with you know who and then he'll come after me himself? Harry this is dangerous, can't we just handle Malfoy on our own?"

"I'm sorry Hermione, I'm going to Dumbledore, are you coming or not"

"Not" she said, looking hurt, and turning to her dormitory. 

Harry leaned his head up against her door and sighed. She was right. This was dangerous, but Dumbledore would protect them. 

"Hermione please don't be angry with me" he shouted through the door.   
"GO AWAY HARRY" he heard from the other side. 

Harry gave up and turned to walk away. He saw Ron standing in the hallway.   
"Harry what's going on? I want the truth."

"You can get it from Hermione" Harry told him as he began to walk away, "Listen, Ron, tell her I'm sorry, that she will be ok, and do me a favor and don't do anything stupid… ok?"

Ron just gave a confused look and nodded his head. 

Harry knew Ron would be angry with her for not telling him that Malfoy was supposed to kidnap her. Hermione was just trying to protect him, she and Harry both knew that Ron would go after Malfoy and do something dumb and in the end just get himself expelled and probably get himself on Lord Voldemort's black list. Well that was for Hermione to deal with now. He had another task awaiting him. 

***

Harry waited in Dumbledore's office. A place not all to unfamiliar to him. He liked it there though, he felt safe and wanted. 

"Hello Harry" said the giant grandfather like wizard as he appeared at the top of the stairs. "What brings you here today"

"Professor… I think I know who's committing the kidnappings"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow and sat down in his large chair. He nodded at Harry, telling him to proceed. 

Harry told him about Hermione's encounter with Malfoy, leaving out sexual details to shelter Hermione's pride. 

Dumbledore gave a disapproving sigh and shook his head sadly. 

"Thank you Harry, I'll probably be calling you in here later." Was surprisingly all that he said to Harry.   
Harry nodded and left the room. He wondered what would happen. He hoped Malfoy would just get expelled and it wouldn't go farther than that but he knew that was too good to be true. 

Harry walked back into the common room where Hermione was storming out, in tears. 

"Thanks a lot Harry!" she said, violently passing by him. 

"Hermione wait!" He called after her, but she ran down the hall. 

Harry rolled his eyes and trotted on up to his room. Ron was sitting on his bed writing a letter. Probably to Charlie, Harry assumed. 

"Hey" Harry said to him, laying down on his own bed.   
"You know Harry, if you were as good a friend as you think you are, you woulda told me about Malfoy trying to kidnap Hermione, I can't believe you would keep something like that from me!" Ron said, crumbling the half written letter up in his hand and standing up from his bed. 

"Ron, you and I both know you would have tried to kill him… where would that have gotten you" 

Ron left the room. He knew Harry was right and would probably just say something he would later regret if he began to quarrel with Harry so he figured it was best to just go and cool down somewhere. 

As he disappeared through the doorway, Parvati appeared. Harry was relieved to see her but wasn't sure how good of a boyfriend he would be today. 

"Hey… I was in the common room when… and I just saw… Harry, what's going on?"

Harry began to explain everything to her as she took a seat on the windowsill. 

"Harry, you did the right thing you know" she said, cocking her head to the side sympathetically. 

"Yea… "

"They just need time, they'll see it"

She was probably right, at least he hoped so.   
"Come here," she said, reaching out her hands.   
Harry got up from the bed and walked over to the windowsill, positioned himself between her legs, put his arms around her waist, buried his head in her shoulder, and let out a loud muffled whine. 

Parvati chuckled as she ran her hands through his hair and kissed his temple.

"Everything will be alright!! Come on, you did a good thing, you deserve to be happy…"

He looked up to see a devilish gleam in her eye. 

"Uh oh" he managed to get out before she pressed her lips against his own, nearly devouring him. With the position she was sitting in, and their groins touching, Harry found it hard to ignore the urge to grind into her as they kissed passionately. Hell, at the rate they were going, he was ready to lift her onto the bed and take it from there! But something didn't feel right, and even though they were alone in his room, he didn't feel like they were in privacy. He pulled back a little, wanting to retreat from the lusty action, but as he did, Parvati lifted her sweater off and began unbuttoning her blouse. 

"Parvati!" he exclaimed, beginning to back away, then realizing he couldn't because her legs were wrapped around him. 

"Shhh, Harry what are you so afraid of? You're a growing boy for God's sake, you should be wanting to do stuff like this."

"Parvati… I … do… I guess… I just…. What if someone walks in?"

"That's the exciting part… doesn't it give you a thrill?"

Harry had to admit that the underlying fear in the pit of his stomach was making him all the more aroused. But before he got a chance to express it, she already had his sweater off and was unbuttoning his shirt. He gave in and began kissing her again, now rubbing his hands across her exposed skin. His hands were so tempted to unhook the bra that he brushed his hands over but he refrained from doing so. He didn't know how far Parvati wanted to take things and decided it would be best to leave it up to her. She then broke from the kiss and pushed his unbuttoned shirt a little farther off his shoulders, kissing the exposed skin. Harry was enjoying the feeling of this and decided he liked the new steps Parvati was taking in their relationship. What 15 year old boy wouldn't? 

The next sounds came simultaneously, a door opening, a gasp, an "oh my" and a yelp. 

Harry was turned, facing a very shocked and disheveled Professor McGonagall who was standing in his doorway. He felt quite embarrassed to be standing there with his shirt half off and, now just realizing his pants undone. Then he thought that Parvati must feel worse. He turned quick to see that Parvati had removed herself from the windowsill and was standing behind him to cover herself. 

"Mr. Potter," McGonagall said, looking away, "Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office" with that, she left the room. 

****

Ahh… still trying to live up to my R rating lol. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, spring break and all. But I have lots of good idea's and surprises in store… so keep comin back and reviewing!! It's MUCH appreciated. … Thanks!


	18. Ohhh Horomones

****

Chapter 18

Harry looked at Parvati as they both reddened. 

"Guess you were right" she said with a giggle. Harry let out his breath and laughed also. How embarrassing that was. 

"Well I better go see what he wants…" Harry said, finishing buttoning his shirt and pulling his sweater back over his head. Parvati nodded and went her own way. 

Harry reached the common room where McGonagall was waiting for him. He felt his face grow hot again remembering what she had just seen. Her eyebrows arched up as she looked over her glasses at him. 

"I'm going to forget what I just saw Mr. Potter… but only because there are more important matters at hand." She said to him in a disapproving tone. Harry felt somewhat relieved anyway. 

***

Ron walked aimlessly around the halls and around the outside of the castle. Just thinking. He knew why they had kept that from him, and he guessed it was pretty smart of them, and right also. He just didn't like the fact that he had been lied to, and they were purposely keeping it from him behind his back. No, he wasn't ready to forgive them just yet. 

As he sat on the Quidditch pitch, rain began to fall from the sky. He lifted his head and gladly accepted this shower, just to cleanse him of his anger. As the cold rain dripped down his face he felt warm drops release from his own eyes; they mixed together with the rain. He knew he didn't want to lose Hermione because of this so he better make amends soon before she becomes the stubborn girl that she is, and breaks his heart. 

"Ron! Ron, come inside you're gonna get sick!" Ron looked over to see Hermione screaming at him, arms folded, wet hair blowing in the wind. She was all he ever wanted. He didn't move. Just lifted his head to the sky again. She ran over to him and looked down on him, just sitting in the rain. 

"Sit with me 'Mione, maybe the rain will wash away your sins."

She looked angry.   
"Ron I don't have any sins, I kept that from you to protect you, you should be _thanking_ me instead of being a selfish stubborn git that you are" she said, beginning to storm away. 

Thunder cracked above them as Ron watched her walk away. He knew she was crying. He wanted to go after her, and comfort her, but he was still too angry. He just needed time. 

"Mr. Weasley" he heard a familiar older voice call to him from where Hermione had disappeared. 

Ron got up and went over to professor McGonagall who was holding an umbrella that was violently trying to get away from her. 

"Professor Dumbledore would like to speak with you in his office." She told him. 

Ron nodded and followed her off the field. 

***

When Ron reached Dumbledore's office, he was surprised to see Hermione and Harry seated in there also. Dumbledore quietly conjured another chair for a wet Ron to sit in. 

"I suppose you three are wondering why I've asked you here" The three nodded. "Well, I'll have you know that Mr. Malfoy has been removed from this school and is to go on trial before the ministry of magic the day after tomorrow."

All three pairs of eyes grew large and they looked at each other in disbelief.   
"Um professor, I can't help but wonder.." Hermione started to say quietly, looking at the floor. 

"Don't you worry miss Granger, you're perfectly safe, I can assure you"

Hermione smiled. She always did feel safe when Dumbledore was around. Ron absentmindedly placed a comforting hand on her knee then realized they were fighting and removed it with a quick "sorry" under his breath.   
"Anyway, I've brought you here today to tell you that the Ministry expects the three of you to testify against Mr. Malfoy on what you saw or experienced."

The three were surprised and not happy to hear that news, but nodded anyway. 

"You may return to your dormitories, I'll notify you of more information tomorrow" he told them.   
The three began to leave the room when Ron turned around and looked at Dumbledore again, "Will Draco go to Azkaban" he asked. The other two quietly admitted to themselves they had been wondering the same thing.   
"This, I do not know" Dumbledore told him, and they left the room sulkily. 

When they were out of the room and walking down the hall, Harry broke the uncomfortable silence.   
"I don't know about you two" he said, "I hate Draco, but I don't want to see him at Azkaban, not so young"

The two didn't say a word.   
"Oh yes, that's right, I forgot you two aren't talking to me for the stupidest reasons in the world"

Hermione stopped in the hallway.   
"I'm sorry Harry, it's not you I'm angry with…"

"Yea cause I'm obviously the one in the wrong here… you know, what a sin, having secrets kept from me" Ron said sarcastically, never stopping to look at them.

"RON why don't you just grow up or get over it or do SOMETHING because I am NOT going to tolerate your immature stubbornness ANY LONGER" and with that she did her usual 'stomps off angrily' and didn't look back. 

Harry and Ron looked at each other and shared their usual unspoken words. They knew this wasn't worth fighting over. 

"It was for your own good you know" Harry said, when he was sure Ron wasn't gonna blow up at him,

Ron sighed, "I know"

"Why don't you go talk to Hermione"

"Not ready to yet, I'm still angry. I don't want to say anything that I'll regret"

"That's actually rather mature of you Ron, maybe you should tell her just that, I'm sure shed understand"

"Yea maybe I will, she's so mad at me…"

Harry placed his hand on Ron's shoulder, "It will be alright mate, she's not going anywhere"

Ron smiled. He liked to think that way, but it was nice to hear it to know that it was true. 

"How's Parvati" Ron asked, changing the subject. 

Harry reddened again, remembering the McGonagall incident. 

"That good eh?" Ron teased, smirking at Harry. 

"Ron… do you think we're… too young… to be doing… things" 

"Harry! You scoundrel!"

"I'm serious Ron!" although he was laughing.

"I dunno! I mean, if you have needs she's willing to fulfill… by all means!" 

Harry playfully punched Ron in the arm. He stopped in the hall and put his head against the wall. "Seriously, though, its so hard to hold back, I feel like I'm fighting a power worse than you know who!" Harry joked.

"Hahahaha, restraining yourself from shagging Parvati Patil senseless is harder than defeating he-who-must-not-be-named? Well there's something to go down in _Hogwarts: A History_" he mocked, laughing all the while. 

"That does sound pretty stupid doesn't it?" Harry asked, chuckling himself, "What about you and Hermione… I mean if you don't mind me asking… are you guys taking it slow?"

Ron looked embarrassed for a moment, shoved his hands in his pockets, and looked at the floor. 

"Yea… I actually want to… ya know, we're so young, and …. This is gonna sound really corny and stupid, but I want to be with her for a long time… I don't wanna waste everything now… you know?"   
Harry looked at Ron to see that his face color closely resembled that of the second color on his tie. 

"Yea, I know what you mean… but with Parvati I'm not thinking long term… I'm not thinking at all, I'm just trying to keep my pants buttoned! Hahah"

"HAHAHA I know man, it's SO HARD! It's harder than potions! There should be a class on it, 'horneyness 101' hahaha" 

Harry fell on the floor in a fetal position in a fit of laughter. In between laughs, he remembered thinking how nice it was to be laughing like this with Ron again. He missed those days. 


	19. The physical distraught of love

****

Chapter 19

Harry lay in his bed, not wanting to subject himself to the world. He just wanted to be alone right now. He thought about Malfoy, and why he would do that, and what was going to happen to him. He almost felt bad for him, and then he would remember that he tried to rape Hermione. Harry wondered how the trial would go. He wished they didn't have to go. Every so often, Harry's mind would travel to Parvati. He didn't mean it to, he couldn't help it. He wondered if McGonagall hadn't come in, how far they would have gone. Was he ready to have sex at 15 years of age? Was that normal? Who was he to know what was normal or not. It didn't seem right but when they were together, lord, it felt right. 

He thought about what Ron had said about being together for a long time. He didn't picture himself with Parvati. Something about it didn't seem right. He couldn't lie to himself, he pictured himself with Ginny. He knew Ginny was his future… but for now, for some reason he couldn't work out to himself, Parvati was his present. 

There was a knock on the door. Then Hermione stuck her tiny head through the crack. Her face was stained with tears and she tilted her head in a sympathetic gesture as she peered at Harry lying sadly in his bed. Only Harry could lie there expressionless, and look sad. 

The two didn't speak, Harry just simply lifted his covers and Hermione crawled under. He originally wanted to be alone, but he would never shun a best friend in need for comfort. 

"Growing up bloody well sucks" Hermione said into Harry's shoulder. 

"Hermione don't swear" Harry joked.

"Growing up, and _love_ bloody well suck" 

"I don't disagree, but we have to deal, so there's no use in us sitting her crying over something we can't control. We've known all along, that love was part of growing up, and growing up was inevitable."

"Yes, well, things were so much simpler when love wasn't involved… this is driving us all mad! I swear Harry, I'm going to go into depression before I turn sixteen!"

"If you think about it Hermione, things haven't changed that much. I mean, think about your last 5 years at Hogwarts and think about all the times you layed in bed, crying over Ron. The mental abuse started a long time ago. The only think that has changed is now there is a physical end involved and without it, you'd be upset that it wasn't there, and with it, it only makes the mental end that much harder."

"So it's a lose/lose situation"

"Basically"

The two shared a giggle. 

"How are things with you and Parvati?"

"Ehhh"

"Ehhh is never a good thing"

"No, things are good, don't get me wrong… I just… things are going a little quickly for my liking and I'm afraid that we're going to do something that I will later regret"

"I can honestly say I would never expect that to come from a boy in a relationship"

"The roles are reversing" Harry joked. "No, seriously, I mean, the fifteen year old boy in me is loving it, but the Harry Potter in me is saying woahhh slow down, you're just fifteen"

"I know the feeling…. Stupid raging hormones haha"

"Haha, yea I feel like I was JUST having this conversation with Ron."

Hermione popped up in the bed and stared down at Harry. He wondered if he shouldn't have said this. 

"What did Ron say"

"Hermione .. Maybe I better not…."

"Harry, _what_ did he say about it?" 

At this point she had grabbed him by the collar and he knew she meant business. 

"Alright, alright, long story short, he loves you and wants to take things slowly so you can be together for a long time but its really hard to do that when you're together because he wants you so bad and if you tell him I told you I swear I'll hex you Hermione Granger" Harry got out in one quick breath.

Hermione leaned back and seemed pleased. She even laughed a little. 

"That's not so bad" she said, laying back down on Harry's bed. The two had stopped cuddling which Harry was happy about considering it wouldn't look good if Ron had walked in. No doubt, Ron trusted Harry and Hermione, but being the jealous git that he is, he wouldn't enjoy the two of them snuggling. No respectable boyfriend would. 

"So is that the same way you feel about Parvati?"

"Truth? No" Harry said, leaning up on one elbow. "When I'm with her, its like a constant need for passion, like clothes ripping off passion haha. I mean I like her a whole lot, she makes me smile and gives me butterflies but I'm not sure it is love, and I'm not sure it's long term… its just a really weird feeling that I can't control, and its getting harder and harder not to shag with her. I dunno what to do."

"Sounds like teenage hormones to me"

Harry laughed, "There's something else…."

"What?"  
"I still can't stop thinking about Ginny."

Hermione smiled. "I like you with Ginny… I think you two are meant to be"

"Yea, a part of me knows we are."

"Maybe you just need to get the "Parvati" out of your system, and then you can be content with Ginny."

"That's what I was thinking too, but what's to say that after I get the "Parvati" out of my system, Ginny will still be there waiting for me?"

"I dunno, she may not be Harry"

Harry stuffed his head back down in his pillow. It was the question that had been plaguing him all day. Would Ginny wait for him?

Ron then walked into the room. He walked over to Harry who was face down in the pillow and ruffled his hair a little. Harry looked up at him and smiled, he was always glad to see his buddy.   
Hermione leaned over and whispered in Harry's ear, "do you think me and Ron could be alone?" she asked. 

Harry nodded at her and grabbed his Quidditch stuff and left the room.  
Ron looked at her, wondering which one was gonna talk first.

Hermione walked over to his bed and lied down next to him. She leaned over and planted a small sweet kiss on his lips. 

Ron kissed back, but his expression was blank again when they pulled apart.   
"I'm still mad you know" he told her. 

"I know, but can't you be mad at me silently?" she asked with a cute pleading expression. 

It wasn't often that Hermione acted like this, so Ron figured he better take advantage of it and leaned in to kiss her back. Then he had a thought.   
"You're acting strange, what's up with you." 

"Ron! Can't you just move on for once, and live for the moment, and love for the moment, and stop acting so pissed off and angry all the time, and stop holding stupid grudges!"

Ron knew he should have taken advantage of her previous tone. And in fact, what she had just said had made him angry and pissed off. He really didn't know how to control his temper. He didn't want to mess things up again though. He got up from the bed and went over to the window to take a few deep breaths and calm his emotions. The only thing he could think about was the fact that they got along for all of second year. How did they do that? Oh yea, she was in a coma for half of it. Ron thought about how upset he was when she was petrified. Did he know back then how much he loved her? 

Hermione wasn't going to wait any longer for him to think about things. Sometimes, with Ron, he would think too much, and ruin any inclination he had about being nice or making up because he would think of something else to be mad about. She simply went over to him, pulled down on his gigantic towering body till their lips were touching, and showed him everything she felt for him through kiss. 

Ron couldn't oblige. Damn his love for her. He wrapped his arms around her, nearly lifting her up as he pulled her closer to him. The two fell back onto the bed and Ron leaned back on the pillows as Hermione climbed on top of him and continued to kiss him passionately. Ron absent mindedly pulled her hips down into him as he held her close against him. He liked this; he liked this very much. Then she simply got up, and plopped down next to him on the bed, smiling at him. 

Ron sat there, not moving his previously straddled on body at all. "Well that sucks" he said out loud. 

Hermione seemed confused because she remembered Harry saying that Ron wanted to take things slow but she laughed it off anyway. 

"Ron it's in the middle of the day, its light out! And we're in your open dorm, anyone could walk I here at any moment!"  
Ron got up from the bed, taking her hand, and led her to the bathroom. He shut the door behind them, locked it, and turned off the lights. There was no windows in there so no light shone through at all. "Happy?" He asked, pulling her into his arms and kissing her neck and shoulder. 

"Ron!" she laughed. "I thought we were going to take things slow!" 

"You know Hermione, I've been thinking a lot about that theory, and my theory is that it bloody well sucks. I mean, I figure, we're gonna be together forever anyway, so why not live for every day?"

Boy, she thought she was attracted to him before with what Harry told her he had said, but this was even better as she, a hormone filled fifteen-yea-old girl, was concerned. 

Ron ran his hands up the back of her thighs and under her skirt. He let them rest upon her bum for a moment and then lifted her up against him. This was very new to the two of them, and they didn't know what they were doing, but they let their instincts and mother nature take over. Speaking of… nature… Hermione was surprised to feel Ron pushing his against her. She couldn't say as though she didn't like it but it made her laugh a little. Unfortunately out loud. 

"What" Ron asked, breathless. 

"Nothing," she lied.

He let her down and she pulled his head down to kiss his forehead.   
"Ron, maybe we've had enough for one day."

Ron reluctantly sighed. He knew she was doing this just because she was the girl and she thought she should be. But he also knew she was right. 

"Alright then love" he said, returning the forehead kiss. He loved her and would wait his whole life if it meant she would still be at his side. 

****

~REVIEW REVIEW… surprise still to come…. 


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